Committee advances pay increase for probation and parole commissioners amid recruitment concerns

The House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee voted to send House Bill 156 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after testimony focused on recruitment and retention for commissioners of the state probation and parole board.

Representative Mathias, sponsor of the bill, told the committee the measure would raise pay for probation and parole commissioners to recognize unpaid preparation time. “We are asking them to do a very important task,” Mathias said, noting commissioners handle thousands of parole hearings annually and perform preparatory work that is unpaid. He said commissioners do “about 7,000 hearings a year” and that for every 23 parole hearings they do about “26 hours of unpaid preparation work.”

Fred Birnbaum of the Freedom Foundation testified in opposition, calling the proposal untimely and raising fiscal concerns. Birnbaum cited the fiscal note in committee documents and estimated a $59,000 initial cost for the change; he warned the increase could set a precedent for larger pay demands across state government and argued the timing was unwise given broader fiscal pressures.

There was no recorded roll-call vote in the committee transcript; Representative Gannon moved the motion to send HB156 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation and the motion carried. Representative Mathias and supporters framed the bill as modest compensation for volunteer commissioners who perform substantial unpaid preparation; opponents framed it as an unnecessary expansion of pay during uncertain fiscal times.

The committee advanced HB156 to the House floor where lawmakers may consider the fiscal note and any amendments.