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Committee reviews expanding earned-time credits to parolees, flags victim-notification and legal hurdles
Summary
A Justice Oversight committee reviewed whether the Department of Corrections'earned-time program should be expanded to parolees and to include educational credits, and whether the DOC victim-notification system could support such changes. Members highlighted due-process questions and scheduled testimony for Oct. 16.
Speaker 1, an unnamed committee member, opened a Justice Oversight meeting by saying the panel will study whether the Department of Corrections'(DOC) earned-time program should be expanded to parolees and whether educational credits should be credited toward sentence reductions for people in DOC custody or on community supervision.
The committee'which does not itself change statute or Parole Board rules'was asked to gather evidence and make recommendations. Speaker 2 told the panel the review will examine two linked questions: whether parolees should be eligible for earned time, and whether educational achievements (trade certificates, bachelor'or graduate degrees) should carry additional earned-time credits. "One of the things that this committee has to do is review the current earned time program and whether it should be expanded to include parolees," Speaker 2 said.
Why the issue matters: members said changes would create practical and legal complications for victims, corrections operations and parole decisionmaking. Speaker 1 explained that furloughs are administered by DOC and treated as a form of incarceration for earned-time purposes, while parole decisions rest with the Parole Board. "Furlough is under DOC'and they're considered incarcerated, though, outside the walls in the community, they should qualify for earned time," Speaker 1 said, arguing that treating parole differently from furlough could create unequal outcomes.
Members also flagged a 2021 statutory change that created categories of disqualifying offenses. Speaker 2 summarized that the statute prevents good-time accrual for certain offenses after an effective date but preserves earned time already accrued before that date. That change, Speaker 1 said, prompted strong reactions from victims who believed an imposed sentence should not be later reduced by earned-time computations.
Legal and practical concerns discussed included due-process and equal-protection questions if people who met program requirements before a statutory change were excluded; whether an expanded earned-time policy could be implemented administratively or would require statutory change; and whether DOC's victim-notification system could reliably inform victims if a sentence is shortened. Speaker 2 highlighted constitutional questions about excluding people who had met requirements prior to an effective date.
On operational details, the committee heard that typical earned-time accrual is calculated in days per month: "they receive 7 days a month," Speaker 1 said, provided individuals meet conditions and do not violate rules while on furlough. Members also discussed how a new conviction after earned time has been credited would be treated as a separate case and sentence, rather than simply reversing previously credited time.
Next steps: members agreed to invite testimony from the DOC Center for Crime Victim Services, representatives of victims and survivors (noted in the meeting as "Jen"), the Parole Board (identified in discussion as "George," described as the chair), and DOC staff. The committee set its next meeting for Oct. 16 and said it might need an additional November meeting to finalize recommendations.
No formal motion or vote on earned-time expansion was taken at this session; the committee directed staff to collect data and testimony to inform potential recommendations.
