TIME CALCULATIONS FOR FIRST PAROLE REVIEW:

The following information is based on laws currently in effect. Parole and mandatory supervision eligibility is determined by the laws in effect at the time the offense is committed. The following is a parole and discretionary mandatory supervision eligibility chart, remember the parole board presently is placing inmates into parole review six months in advance of these calculated times and the parole board is presently voting cases as early as three months before the calculated times, in other words you need to hire me well in advance of the computed appearance date:

3g Offenses where good time credits have no effect on an offender’s sentence:

Parole eligibility is based on calendar time. The inmates convicted of a 3g offense are not eligible for mandatory supervision. Any 3g offense committed on or after September 1, 1993 requires an inmate to serve a minimum of one-half of the total sentence to become parole eligible. The following is the current listing of 3g offenses:

Aggravated Sexual Assault

Aggravated Kidnapping

Aggravated Robbery

Indecency with Child-Contact

Murder

Sexual Assault of a Child

Offenses with Affirmative Finding of Deadly Weapon

There are certain offenses where a life sentence carries unique initial parole eligible requirements by statute:

Capital Murder                                                                             40 years actual time served

Aggravated Sexual Assault                                                         35 years actual time served

(two prior convictions 1 sex related)

Aggravated kidnapping with Intent to Abuse Sexually                 35 years actual time served

(two prior felony convictions 1sex related)

Indecency with Child-Contact                                                      35 years actual time served

(two prior felony convictions 1 sex related)

Burglary Habitation with intent to                                                 35 years actual time served

sexual assault or indecency with Child

(two prior felony convictions 1 sex related) 

Aside from the above listed offenses, good time credits for offenses listed below and as defined in 508.49 of the Texas Government Code count toward an inmate’s parole eligibility. The good time credit does not count, however, toward release on mandatory supervision. If the inmate is never approved for parole, the inmate convicted of the following will serve the entire sentence:

Aggravated Assault 1^st and 2^nd degree          *Drug-Free Zone Offenses                             Robbery

Arson 1^st degree                                             Indecency with Child-Exposure                      Sexual Assault

Burglary Habitation 1^st degree                        Injury to Child, Elderly, Disabled 1^st degree

Use of Child in Offense

*Drug-free zone offenses carry a unique parole eligibility requirement. If convicted of such a crime, an offender must serve five calendar years to become eligible. Consequently, if an offender is sentenced to five-years or less, he or she is not eligible for parole or mandatory supervision.

Every inmate is eventually going to be reviewed by the Board. If you want to hire me I must have time to perform my job. I must be hired a long time before the inmate’s eligibility date so I can do what needs to be done such as help prepare an inmate to be a good candidate for release to parole, gather the needed information and prepare the written documentation to be submitted to the Board, and to argue in behalf of my client before the Board if granted an appearance.

All inmates will receive a parole eligibility date. About six (6) months before that eligibility date, the inmate’s file for TDCJ-ID goes into review status. Review Status means that the TDCJ-ID file will begin traveling through their different offices to be prepared for the parole board members before it is sent to them. When an inmate’s file goes into review status it is pulled out of the regular file cabinet in Austin and it begins to travel to the different offices for the many things that have to be done. The review status should be completed about 2 to 3 months before it is sent to the parole board office. Once the parole board receives the file, the file is then assigned to a first voting board member and then it is voted on. There is no exact formula for calculating when the review process will be complete or when the file will be sent to and voted on by the board members which is why I begin tracking my client’s files about 6 months before the eligibility date to make sure where they are. This is why I must be hired a long time before the inmate’s file goes into review status and a long time before the eligibility date.

The following is only an example of the time frame that it would take for a file to go through the system:

EXAMPLE:

Eligibility Date                  File In Review Status                      Probable Voting Period

January 1, 2008                August 1, 2007                                November 1, 2007 - January 1, 2008

The above example shows that the inmate’s file had an eligibility date of January 1, 2008. Six months before that eligibility date, August 1, 2007, it is placed in review status. Around November 1, 2007, it is then sent to the board members to be voted on and the vote should be completed before January 1, 2008.