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ghostwrite
“model”
bills to
and Economic
be introduced
in state
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capitols
across the country.
This agenda--underwritten
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by global corporations-Energy,
includes
majorEnvironment,
tax
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loopholes
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and the
superRelations
rich,
Federal
proposals to offshore U.S.
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Human
jobs and
gut and
minimum
wage,Services
and efforts to
weaken
public health,
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safety, and environmental
Public Although
Safety andmany
protections.
Elections
of these
bills have become
law, until
now, their origin
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has been largely unknown.
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ALEC’s’Corporate Board
--in recent past or present

• AT&T Services, Inc.
• centerpoint360
• UPS
• Bayer Corporation
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Energy Future Holdings
• Johnson & Johnson
• Coca-Cola Company
• PhRMA
• Kraft Foods, Inc.
• Coca-Cola Co.
• Pfizer Inc.
• Reed Elsevier, Inc.
• DIAGEO
• Peabody Energy
• Intuit, Inc.
• Koch Industries, Inc.
• ExxonMobil
• Verizon
• Reynolds American Inc.
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Salt River Project
• Altria Client Services, Inc.
• American Bail Coalition
• State Farm Insurance
For more on these corporations,
search at www.SourceWatch.org.

By the Center for
Media and Democracy
www.prwatch.org

Home

work as “equals” in “unison” with politicians to write laws to govern your life. Big
MODEL LEGISLATION
TASK
ALEC INITIATIVES
PUBLICATIONS
Business
has “a VOICE and
a FORCES
VOTE,” according
to newly exposed
documents. DO YOU?

Model Legislation

Public Safety and Elections

Open Parole Hearings Act
Summary

Did you know the
NRA--the National
Rifle Association-was the corporate
co-chair in 2011?

This Act would require the department of corrections to notify victims of crime of
upcoming parole hearings at least 30 days in advance of such hearings. The Act would
also require the parole board to promulgate rules governing attendance and
participation at parole hearings and would substantially restrict the circumstances that
could lead to a parole hearing being closed to the public. The parole board would be
required to accept victim impact statements at parole hearings.

Model Legislation
{Title, enacting clause, etc.}
Section 1. {Title.} This Act may be cited as the Open Parole Hearings Act.
Section 2. {Definitions.} As used in this Act:
(A) "Applicant" means an inmate whose parole application is before the parole board.
(B) "Board" means the parole board as established in [insert appropriate state law].
(C) "Parolee" means the subject of parole revocation proceedings.
(D) "Parole hearing" means the formal examination of an inmate application for early
release from incarceration.
(E) "Parole revocation hearing" means the formal examination of allegations that a
parolee's parole should be revoked.
(F) "Victim" means an individual who has suffered direct or threatened physical,
emotional, or financial harm as the result of the commission of a crime or an immediate
family member of a minor or a homicide victim.
(G) "Victim impact statement" means a statement providing information about the
financial, emotional, and physical effects of a crime on the victim and the victim's family,
and specific information about the victim, the circumstances surrounding the crime,
and the manner in which it was perpetrated.
(H) "Victim representative" means a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or other relative of a
deceased or incapacitated victim or of a victim who is under [cite state law] years of
age, or a person who has had a close relationship with the victim and is designated by
the court to be a victim representative.

Section 3. {Open hearings.}
(A) The board may restrict the number of individuals allowed to attend parole or parole
revocation hearings in accordance with physical limitations or security requirements of
the hearing facilities.
(B) The board may deny admission or continued attendance at parole or parole
revocation hearings to individuals who:
(1) threaten or present danger to the security of the institution in which the hearing is
being held;
(2) threaten or present a danger to other attendees or participants; or
(3) disrupt the hearing.
(C) Upon formal action of a majority of the board members present, the board may close
parole and parole revocation hearings in order to:
(1) deliberate upon the oral testimony and any other relevant information received from
applicants, parolees, victims, or others; or
(2) provide applicants and parolees the opportunity to challenge confidential information
which they believe detrimental to their applications or revocation proceedings.
(D) Upon written request of the [attorney general/chief law enforcement official
responsible for an ongoing criminal investigation] and formal action of a majority of the
parole board members present, the board may hold closed parole or parole revocation

hearings to protect ongoing investigations.

Exposed

By the Center for
Media and Democracy
www.prwatch.org

Section 4. {Finality of board decisions.} A board decision to grant parole or not
to revoke parole shall become final 30 days after it has been noted in the public record
unless within that time the board schedules a new hearing, pursuant to Subsection (G)
of Section 5. A board decision to revoke parole shall become final immediately.
Section 5. {Notification of future parole eligibility.}
(A) Within 90 days of an inmate's incarceration for a felony offense the Department of
Corrections shall notify the victim or the victim's representative of the earliest possible
date the inmate will be eligible for parole consideration. A copy of the rules developed
under Section 6 shall be included with the notice.
(B) If the board has received a request for notice of scheduled parole and parole
revocation hearings from a victim or victim representative, at least 30 days prior to a
scheduled parole hearing for an inmate convicted of a felony offense and at least 5 days
prior to a scheduled parole revocation hearing for a parolee the board shall notify the
victim or the victim's representative who has requested notification of the date, time,
and place of the scheduled hearing. A copy of the rules developed pursuant to Section 6
shall be included with the notice. However, at any time the victim or victim's
representative may withdraw the request for notice by sending the court a written
certified statement that the request for notice is withdrawn.
(C) At least 30 days prior to a scheduled parole hearing for an inmate convicted of a
felony offense and at least 5 days prior to a scheduled parole revocation hearing of a
parolee, the board shall send a notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to the
office of the prosecuting attorney in the county in which the crime was prosecuted and
to the branch of the court in which the applicant or parolee was sentenced.
(D) At least 30 days prior to a scheduled parole hearing for an inmate convicted of a
felony offense, the board shall send a notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing
to a newspaper of general circulation in the city or county where the crime was
committed.
(E) No later than [determined by legislature] days after a parole hearing or parole
revocation hearing, the board shall send notice of its decision to those required to
receive notice under Subsections (B) and (C) of this Section, together with notice that
any victim whom the board failed to notify as required in Subsection (B) of this Section
has the opportunity to have a written victim impact statement considered by the board,
pursuant to Subsection (G) of this Section.
(F) No later than [determined by legislature] days after a parole hearing resulting in
parole of an applicant or a parole revocation hearing resulting in continued parole of a
parolee, the board shall cause to have its decision published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the city or county where the crime was committed, together with a notice
that any victim whom the board failed to notify as required in Subsection (B) of this
Section has the opportunity to have a written victim impact statement considered by
the board, pursuant to Subsection (G) of this Section.
(G) Prior to a parole hearing or parole revocation hearing, a party to whom the board
failed to provide the notice required in Subsections (B) and (C) may request the board to
postpone the scheduled hearing. Upon that request, the board shall postpone the
scheduled parole or parole revocation hearing in order to provide a reasonable
opportunity for the party to attend the hearing and, if that party is a victim, to submit a
victim impact statement. However, in no event shall the hearing be postponed more
than [determined by legislature] days nor less than [determined by legislature].
(H) Any notice required to be provided to the victim or victim representative by this
section shall be mailed to the last known address of the victim or the victim
representative. It is the responsibility of the victim or victim representative to provide
the Department of Corrections and the board with a current mailing address.

Section 6. {Parole board rules.} Within 90 days of the effective date of this Act,
the board shall develop rules governing attendance at board hearings and submission
and use of victim impact statements. The rules shall govern:
(A) the requirement that those requesting notification of parole and parole revocation
hearings keep the board advised of their current addresses and telephone numbers;
(B) instructions for attending and participating in parole and parole revocation hearings;
(C) the limitation on attendance as set forth in Subsection (B) of Section 3;
(D) reasonable limitations on oral presentations; and
(E) the board's discretion to investigate victim impact statements and applicant and
parolee challenge of victim impact statements.

Section 7. {Victim impact statements.}
(A) The board shall receive and consider victim impact statements.
(B) Written victim impact statements shall not be made available to the public without
written consent of victims or their representatives.
(C) The board shall make written victim impact statements available to applicants or
parolees no later than [determined by legislature] days before the hearing. However, in
no event shall applicants, parolees, or their attorneys be provided with the residential or
business address of victims or victim representatives or any information which, if
disclosed, might result in harm, physical or otherwise, to any person.
(D) Assertions made in a victim impact statement may be investigated and verified by
the board.

(E) In parole hearings an applicant, parolee, counsel for an applicant or parolee, or any
other person on behalf of an applicant or parolee may provide the board with
information challenging assertions made in a victim impact statement and present
witnesses at the hearing to give testimony challenging the assertions in a victim impact
statement. Only members of the board may question the victim concerning assertions
made in the statement.
(F) In parole revocation hearings, the parolee shall have the opportunity to respond to
the victim impact statement either orally or in writing.
(G) All (written) victim impact statements shall be part of the applicant's or parolee's
parole file.

Section 8. {Severability clause.}
Section 9. {Repealer clause.}
Section 10. {Effective date.}
ALEC's Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995

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Center for Media
and Democracy's
quick summary:

This is part of a bundle of 1995 bills that aim to include victims in the criminal justice process.