Opinion ID: 1274603
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: parole hearing

Text: We next address the issue of the petitioner's eligibility for parole consideration. The petitioner argues that he first became eligible for a parole hearing in March 1992 and that the Parole Services Division informed him that he could not be considered for parole until his transfer into the Division of Corrections. The respondent Parole Board asserts that it is fiscally and physically unable to hold parole consideration proceedings in the county and regional jails. West Virginia Code § 62-12-13 (1989) sets forth all the requirements which must be met by an inmate before he can be considered eligible for parole. In the case of a person sentenced to any penal institution of this state, it shall be the duty of the board, as soon as such person becomes eligible, to consider the advisability of his or her release on parole. W.Va.Code § 62-12-13(a)(5). (emphasis added). The eligibility requirements include that the inmate [s]hall have served the minimum term of his or her indeterminate sentence, or shall have served one forth of his or her definite term sentence.... Id. at § 62-12-13(a)(1)(A). Furthermore, this Court has found that [o]ur parole statute, W.Va. Code, 62-12-13 (1979), creates a reasonable expectation interest in parole to those prisoners meeting its objective criteria. Syl. Pt. 1, Mohn, 165 W.Va. at 55, 267 S.E.2d at 184; accord Syl. Pt. 1, Vance v. Holland, 177 W.Va. 607, 355 S.E.2d 396 (1987). Moreover, the statute requires a hearing before the Parole Board by providing that [b]efore releasing any penitentiary prisoner on parole, the board of parole shall arrange for the prisoner to appear in person before the board.... W.Va.Code § 62-12-13(d)(4); see Syl. Pt. 4, in part, Mohn, 165 W.Va. at 55, 267 S.E.2d at 184 (Each inmate may personally appear before the parole board and give oral and documentary evidence) Finally, if upon parole consideration, parole is denied, the board shall at least once a year reconsider and review the case of every prisoner so eligible, which reconsideration and review shall be by the entire board. W.Va.Code § 62-12-13(a)(5). An additional requirement for parole consideration is that the inmate [s]hall have maintained a record of good conduct in prison for a period of at least three months immediately preceding the date of his or her release on parole. Id. at § 62-12-13(a)(3). It is without dispute from the respondents that this statutory provision only stands for the proposition that an inmate is required to be on good behavior for the three months immediately prior to being considered for parole regardless of where he is actually incarcerated. Hence, this statutory provision does not require that he actually be housed in a Division of Corrections penal facility prior to being considered for parole. The fundamental issue to be resolved is whether the Parole Board must consider the petitioner for parole when he is eligible for such consideration, despite the fact that he is lodged in a county or regional jail awaiting placement in the penitentiary. According to the record, the Parole Board is currently only holding parole hearings at the three state prisons and the three work release centers. It is clear, however, that the relevant statute envisions that these parole hearings can occur in county jails as well as correctional facilities. Specifically, West Virginia Code § 62-12-13(d)(4) provides, in pertinent part, that [t]he board and its designated agents shall at all times have access to inmates imprisoned in any penal or correctional institutions of this state or in any city or county jail in this state.... It is apparent from these statutory provisions that the Parole Board has a mandatory duty not only to consider an inmate for parole once the inmate becomes eligible, but also to conduct a parole hearing, if necessary, at any facility where the inmate is being lodged, be it a facility within the Division of Corrections or a county or regional jail. Accordingly, it is a violation of West Virginia Code § 62-12-13 for the Parole Board to refuse to consider an inmate for parole until after his transfer into a Division of Corrections facility when he is otherwise eligible for such consideration. Thus, the Parole Board is hereby ordered to conduct the appropriate hearings for inmates who are currently eligible for parole regardless of where the inmate is being lodged. We are not unmindful of both the monetary and logistical restraints this decision to hold parole consideration proceedings in county and regional jails places upon the Parole Board. [7] Thus, until construction of the new penitentiary is completed, the Parole Board has the latitude to give parole consideration to those inmates being detained in county or regional jails who have been convicted of nonviolent crimes upon review of their records. When the Parole Board determines that an inmate has sufficiently met the requirements of West Virginia Code § 62-12-13, then it may grant parole without actually holding a hearing at the facility where the inmate is housed. Based upon the foregoing opinion, the Division of Corrections is ordered to comply with the Dodrill decision and the Parole Board is ordered to conduct appropriate hearings for inmates eligible for parole. Writ granted as moulded.