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1994 SPECIAL SESSION II

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SB 3001 Abolition of parole.

Introduced by: Kenneth W. Stolle | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY:

Abolition of parole. Abolishes parole and good conduct allowance and replaces those systems with post-release supervision and earned sentence credits. The bill also creates the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission. The Commission, an advisory executive branch agency under the Secretary of Public Safety, is composed of 21 members: four from the House; three from the Senate; one appellate court judge; two circuit court judges; two Commonwealth's attorneys; a sheriff and a police chief; four citizens, including three of whom will be victims of violent crime; the Attorney General; the Secretary of Public Safety; and the Chairman of the Commission (appointed as Chairman by the Governor). The Commission, in its advisory capacity, will develop, maintain, and modify, as necessary, discretionary sentencing guidelines for use in all felony cases and report its work annually to the Governor and the General Assembly. These guidelines will be based on percentage increases of actual time served historical data from the time period 1988 through 1992. After the initial adoption of the sentencing guidelines, the Commission will recommend, in its report, changes in the form of bills introduced for passage to the General Assembly.

The bill authorizes the court to impose additional terms of between six months and three years for felony offenses committed on and after January 1, 1995. These additional terms will be used for periods of post-release supervision. The post-release supervision is much like supervised probation including the use of court-imposed terms and conditions. Violations will subject the supervisee to termination and recommitment procedures as are currently done in revocation of probation and imposition of a suspended sentence. The entire restructuring of sentencing, parole and good time applies to persons who commit crimes on and after January 1, 1995. The former procedures will stay in place for those persons already in the system.


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