How did Realignment Change the way parole revocation hearings work (as of July 1, 2013)?
How did Realignment Change the way parole revocation hearings work (as of July 1, 2013)?
- CHANGE TO WHO HEARS THE CASE
The biggest change is that local county superior courts will now hear most parole revocation cases.[670] Before July 1, 2013, the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) was responsible for hearing all parole revocation cases, and now that responsibility has mostly shifted to the courts.[671] Superior court judges will hear these cases in state court.[672] One idea behind this change was to create more transparency and fairness by having independent, unbiased judges hear the cases and weigh the evidence.
NOTE FOR former “LIFERS”:
This change in the law means that if you were a “lifer” in prison, your parole revocation hearing will be before the BPH, not the local county superior court.
However, the BPH will continue to hear certain cases — specifically:
- Parole consideration for lifers (also called “parole suitability hearings”);
- Medical parole hearings;
- Cases regarding mentally disordered offenders (MDOs); and
- Cases regarding “sexually violent predators.”
- CHANGE TO WHERE YOU SERVE A SENTENCE FOR A PAROLE VIOLATION
- If your parole is revoked for a violation that occurred on or after July 1, 2013, you will be sentenced to COUNTY JAIL, not state prison.
- If your parole is revoked for a violation that occurred before July 1, 2013, you would have been sent back to STATE PRISON. so this is a big change in the law.
- EXCEPTION: This change does not apply to a parolee who is classified as a “serious offender” — meaning a parolee who was a life-term prisoner under California Penal Code § 3000.1, or one who was convicted of certain sex offenses under California Penal Code § 3000(a)(4)). If you fall under this classification, you will still be sent back to state prison to serve time for a parole revocation. The BPH retains control of your case, and will later decide whether to release you back onto parole.[673]
- CHANGE TO THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU SERVE
If you serve your parole violation (revocation) term in county jail, you will serve a maximum of 180 days.[674] Most people serve their parole revocation terms in county jails.
But if you are a former lifer, you may serve a maximum of 12 months in prison for a parole violation.[675] If your maximum parole period is life-long (this may be true if your commitment offense was murder or a sex offense), you may be sentenced to up to a year in prison for a revocation — and, at some point during that year, the BPH may determine that you should be incarcerated longer.[676]