What is California state parole?

In California, parole is a condition of release for a person coming out of prison.[317] It applies only to people convicted of a state felony and sentenced to state prison. State parole takes effect only after you are released from prison.

People on parole — sometimes called “parolees” — remain under the control of CDCR. Within CDCR, parolees are more specifically under the control of the Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO), a division of CDCR. As a parolee, you are supervised by CDCR parole agents, and you must satisfy certain rules or “conditions” of parole.[318]

  1. 317

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 2355.

  2. 318

    People who are sentenced to state prison for potential life sentences (for example, “25 years to life”) are only eligible for parole after they serve the determinate part of their sentence, and only after the Bd. of Parole Hearings (BPH, commonly called the “parole board”) determines that you are ready to re-enter society. That determination takes place during a California Bd. of Parole Hearings suitability hearing (also known as a “Lifer hearing”). Some people released from California state prison are required to serve a period of parole after they are released. Lifer Parole Process, Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab., http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/BOPH/lifer_parole_process.html.