On Wednesday, the Alabama House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security passed House Bill 86, introduced by Representative Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which would require the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider additional criteria when making parole decisions.
In addition to the current factors required during parole considerations, such as an inmate’s risk to reoffend and their progress in complying with the Alabama Department of Corrections’ reentry plan, the Board would also need to consider three additional factors under England’s bill: an inmate’s employment while incarcerated, any education an inmate gained while incarcerated, and whether an inmate has been assessed as low risk for recidivism.
“We want to make sure that we do whatever we can to encourage someone who is incarcerated to do the best they can to improve their situation so when they get out they don’t recitivate,” England said of the bill at Wednesday’s meeting. “But also, we want to make sure the parole board has as much information as necessary to make a well-informed decision. But honestly, the last thing is, and most important for me, is just making sure that we are encouraging those, that when they’re incarcerated, that if they do things that we ask of them that they know it’s going to at least be considered.”
The bill received bipartisan support from the committee, with multiple members applauding the legislation’s provisions.
Representative Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, thanked England for introducing the bill and pointed to Alabama’s exceedingly low parole rate as an issue that the legislation could help to address.
“People have done everything they could do, they’ve taken the classes, they’ve been a good inmate, stayed out of trouble, and come to the parole [board] and get turned down,” Jackson noted.
England agreed, pointing to instances where inmates participate in work release programs where they are employed without supervision for eight hours a day, get to go home on weekends, and yet are still denied parole.
“Obviously some people will be on their best behavior when they’re incarcerated, but when they get out things change,” England added. “But really, this [bill] just makes this a holistic analysis of the person that’s applying for parole to make sure that the parole board is making the most informed decision about whether or not this person is prepared and ready, when they’re released, to be a productive part of society.”
Representative Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, said that the added criteria “seemed pretty sensible to consider” and were fitting to be required of the Board of Pardons and Paroles when making parole decisions.
A small, clerical amendment to the bill was subsequently proposed by Representative Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, which England welcomed and the committee quickly approved.
The committee ultimately gave HB86 unanimous approval, sending the bill to the House floor for further consideration.
