HB 6723 Summary

• Increases Board of Pardons and Paroles full-time members from ten to twelve effective July 1, 2020, maintaining up to five part-time members appointed by the Governor with General Assembly consent.

• Requires at least one full-time board member to be a formerly incarcerated person who previously had a parole hearing and at least one full-time member to be a crime victim, effective July 1, 2020.

• Establishes mandatory parole orientation programs, incremental sanctions systems for violations, and annual training for board members covering criminal justice, victim rights, risk assessment, and mental health issues.

• Requires quarterly publication of board decision statistics disaggregated by race, gender, sanction length for criminal versus technical violations, and parole outcomes.

• Mandates tracking and analysis of costs associated with parole rescission or revocation, implementation of evidence-informed strategies to reduce incarceration, and limits on revocation for violations stemming from substance abuse or mental health conditions.