This bill would create the Criminal Justice Policy Development Council to oversee the development and implementation of validated risk and needs assessments for offenders, parole release guidelines, and classification guidelines of inmates. Under existing law, the Board of Pardons and Paroles uses parole release guidelines as an aid in the parole process. This bill would require the Board of Pardons and Paroles to use parole release guidelines created by the Criminal Justice Policy Development Council in its parole decisions. This bill would provide that if the board deviates from the parole release guidelines, the board would be required to state its reasons for the deviation. This bill would also provide appellate relief for inmates who are negatively affected by the board's deviation from the parole release guidelines.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 15-22-26