Who has to go before the Board of Parole Hearings to be released from California state prison?

If you are serving on an indeterminate sentence (for example, “15 years to life”), you will go before the board 13 months before your minimum eligible parole date (MEPD) for a hearing to decide whether you should be released on parole.

There are also special early parole processes for certain populations, including youth offender parole (SB 260/SB 261), the elderly parole program, nonviolent offender parole review (Prop 57), and compassionate release. Some of these programs involve a full hearing and others are just a “paper process” with no hearing.