Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee weighs giving Parole Board independent legal counsel and training
Summary
The House Corrections & Institutions Committee discussed bill H.559 and whether the Parole Board needs independent legal counsel and training, noting statutory limits on who may represent the board during parole-revocation hearings, a previous $25,000 pilot appropriation, and competing budget pressures within the Department of Corrections.
Members of the House Corrections & Institutions Committee pressed officials on February 11 over whether the Parole Board should receive independent legal representation and more formal training, and how the board’s budget should be structured.
The committee continued work on bill H.559 after the chair flagged three unresolved policy questions: who provides legal counsel to the Parole Board, whether the board’s budget should be moved out of the Department of Corrections (DOC) or retain a separate line item, and how to fund training and legal services.
Why it matters: Parole revocation hearings can result in the return of a person to incarceration, and committee members said the board’s decisions increasingly involve complex legal questions. At the same time, statute limits which attorneys may represent the board during revocation hearings, and offenders usually have counsel from the Defender General’s office while the board lacks a separate legal advocate.
Lloyd Fisher, general counsel for the Department of Corrections, told…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
