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About
New York State Parole According
to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community of Supervision, the history of parole in New York State begins
in “1817, the nation's first "good time" law, rewarding prison inmates with time off their period of imprisonment
for good behavior, was approved in New York State. In 1876, New York State passed a system of "indeterminate" sentences
setting a minimum and maximum term and permitting parole release of those who had served the minimum; those selected by prison
officials for parole were required to report monthly to citizen volunteers known as "Guardians."
On July 1, 1930, the Division of Parole was established
in the Executive Department. A full-time Board of Parole was created within the Division and given the responsibility, formerly
held by the Department of Corrections, for decisions on parole releases from prisons. Jurisdiction over releases from training
schools and correctional institutions for mentally disabled prisoners was added to the Parole Board's authority in 1945. A
1967 law extended the Board's release authority to persons incarcerated in local reformatories, transferred the functions
of the New York City Parole Commission to the New York State Division of Parole and gave the agency control over the conditional
release of inmates under definite sentences.
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Books authored by law enforcement
officials of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision:
In
1971, the Division of Parole was consolidated with the Department of Corrections to form the Department of Correctional Services
(DOCS). In the wake of the Attica Prison riot and demands from the courts and other quarters that the procedural rights of
parolees be protected, Parole in 1977 was again established as an autonomous agency within the Executive Department. The same
reform act mandated adoption of formal release guidelines to eliminate any perception of arbitrariness. A 1978 law made the
Division of Parole responsible for the release decision for juveniles convicted of certain serious felonies and for their
post-release community supervision. With the surge in incarcerations in the 1980s and 1990s, the Division of Parole expanded
significantly, as did the array of substance abuse treatment and other services available to help releasees maintain a law-abiding
life style.
The
Sentencing Reform Act of 1998, commonly referred to as Jenna's Law, added a new dimension to the Division through the elimination
of discretionary release for all violent felony offenders while mandating court-imposed periods of post-release supervision
of 1.5 to 5 years that the offender must serve after completing the period of incarceration imposed by the court.
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