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Parole board director outlines structure, hearings and pay; committee seeks data briefing
Summary
Mary Jane Ainsworth, director of the parole board, told the Corrections & Institutions committee that the board conducts formal parole hearings, sets conditions, adjudicates violations and is appointed by the governor with senate confirmation; she also described member pay and hearing schedules and agreed to provide more data in a follow‑up session.
Mary Jane Ainsworth, director of the parole board, briefed the Corrections & Institutions committee on Jan. 7 about how the board operates and how recent policy shifts have changed its workload.
Ainsworth said the board functions as a quasi‑judicial body that conducts formal parole hearings, decides whether eligible offenders should be released on parole and sets conditions of release. "We are a quorum of three board members," she said, describing hearing composition and explaining that decisions are made by a simple majority.
She described the appointment process: members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate, serve staggered three‑year terms, and the director position is an exempt appointment that carries a four‑year term. On board size and alternates, the written materials referenced statutory language about alternates; Ainsworth described rotating seven individuals through hearings while also citing the statutory quorum that makes decisions in threes.
On compensation, Ainsworth said statutory language (effective in fiscal 2006) sets the chair's annual pay at $20,500 and provides a $100 per diem for board members on hearing days and for preparation days. "The chair receives $20,500 annually. Board members receive $100 per diem per working day," she said.
Operationally, Ainsworth said the board typically holds three hearing days per week for the first three weeks of each month and reserves an overflow day in the last week. Typical parole hearings run 15–20 minutes, she said, though violation hearings are scheduled for 20 minutes and have occasionally lasted more than two hours when witnesses and complex evidence are involved.
Ainsworth described reliance on an evidence‑based structured decision‑making framework adopted during the justice reinvestment initiative and trained by the National Institute of Corrections. She said the tool aids deliberations by highlighting aggravating and mitigating factors without prescribing outcomes and noted the board's limited training budget and reliance on occasional technical assistance and NIC‑funded programs.
Committee members asked for follow‑up data on case types, conditions most frequently violated and the composition of hearings. Ainsworth agreed to provide more detailed numbers and to schedule a longer session to review the board's caseload and the high‑needs cases that are appearing before it.
The committee did not take formal action during the briefing; Ainsworth closed by reiterating the board's desire for a stronger role in related policy discussions.
