Bill would let parole and probation petition courts for relief from lifetime supervision after long compliance

The Department of Public Safety’s Parole and Probation division told the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Feb. 20 that Assembly Bill 4 would allow the division to petition a sentencing court or the State Board of Parole Commissioners for release from a term of lifetime supervision in cases where statutory petition requirements are impracticable for the supervised person.

Tamra Jackson, Parole and Probation chief, said lifetime supervision is a distinct post‑conviction term imposed for certain serious sex‑offender or related convictions that begins after parole, probation or prison. Under current statute people under lifetime supervision may petition the board for release after 10 years, but Jackson and Deputy Chief Aaron Evans said barriers — including the requirement for a licensed clinical professional’s evaluation and the cost of specialized psychosexual or risk assessments — can effectively prevent indigent or geographically isolated people from filing petitions.

“Some of these circumstances include indigency, infirmity, geographical limitations, or a general inability to comply,” Jackson said, and she said the proposed provisional language would allow the division to initiate a petition and, if a court or the board grants release, permit administrative closure of the supervision case without the person bearing the full petition burden.

Jackson said lifetime supervision differs from standard parole or probation: it generally involves far fewer enforceable conditions, no routine authority to search a home, phone or computer, and the division’s primary task is annual verification of residence. Aaron Evans said the division currently has 92 individuals who have been on lifetime supervision 20 years or more; of those he identified 25 as deported and 20 in warrant status, leaving roughly 47 who might be affected by the proposed change, with an average age of about 60 for that subgroup. Evans also said roughly 450 people on lifetime supervision have been deported (the division committed to provide an exact count to the committee).

Supporters included Paloma Guerrero of the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, who said the bill recognizes that “people can change” and that long‑term law‑abiding behavior supports administrative relief. Opponents included the Nevada District Attorneys Association’s John Jones, who argued the legislature created lifetime supervision for serious offenders as a truth‑in‑sentencing measure and said victims are told at sentencing that the defendant may be subject to lifetime supervision and narrow criteria apply to removal.

Jackson and Evans said the division is not proposing relief for higher‑risk convictions on the statutory danger list; the bill would permit the division to file petitions in limited situations when petition prerequisites (such as costly clinical evaluations) prevent a person from seeking relief. The committee received no immediate vote; Jackson said the division would be open to later expanding consideration to lifetime parole or habitual‑offender matters if warranted.