77-27-5 - Board of Pardons and Parole authority.
77-27-5. Board of Pardons and Parole authority.
(1) (a) The Board of Pardons and Parole shall determine by majority decision when andunder what conditions, subject to this chapter and other laws of the state, persons committed toserve sentences in class A misdemeanor cases at penal or correctional facilities which are underthe jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections, and all felony cases except treason orimpeachment or as otherwise limited by law, may be released upon parole, pardoned, ordered topay restitution, or have their fines, forfeitures, or restitution remitted, or their sentencescommuted or terminated.
(b) The board may sit together or in panels to conduct hearings. The chair shall appointmembers to the panels in any combination and in accordance with rules promulgated by theboard, except in hearings involving commutation and pardons. The chair may participate on anypanel and when doing so is chair of the panel. The chair of the board may designate the chair forany other panel.
(c) No restitution may be ordered, no fine, forfeiture, or restitution remitted, no parole,pardon, or commutation granted or sentence terminated, except after a full hearing before theboard or the board's appointed examiner in open session. Any action taken under this subsectionother than by a majority of the board shall be affirmed by a majority of the board.
(d) A commutation or pardon may be granted only after a full hearing before the board.
(e) The board may determine restitution as provided in Section 77-27-6 and Subsection77-38a-302(5)(d)(ii).
(2) (a) In the case of original parole grant hearings, rehearings, and parole revocationhearings, timely prior notice of the time and location of the hearing shall be given to thedefendant, the county or district attorney's office responsible for prosecution of the case, thesentencing court, law enforcement officials responsible for the defendant's arrest and conviction,and whenever possible, the victim or the victim's family.
(b) Notice to the victim, his representative, or his family shall include informationprovided in Section 77-27-9.5, and any related rules made by the board under that section. Thisinformation shall be provided in terms that are reasonable for the lay person to understand.
(3) Decisions of the board in cases involving paroles, pardons, commutations orterminations of sentence, restitution, or remission of fines or forfeitures are final and are notsubject to judicial review. Nothing in this section prevents the obtaining or enforcement of acivil judgment, including restitution as provided in Section 77-27-6.
(4) This chapter may not be construed as a denial of or limitation of the governor's powerto grant respite or reprieves in all cases of convictions for offenses against the state, excepttreason or conviction on impeachment. However, respites or reprieves may not extend beyondthe next session of the Board of Pardons and Parole and the board, at that session, shall continueor terminate the respite or reprieve, or it may commute the punishment, or pardon the offense asprovided. In the case of conviction for treason, the governor may suspend execution of thesentence until the case is reported to the Legislature at its next session. The Legislature shallthen either pardon or commute the sentence, or direct its execution.
(5) In determining when, where, and under what conditions offenders serving sentencesmay be paroled, pardoned, have restitution ordered, or have their fines or forfeitures remitted, ortheir sentences commuted or terminated, the board shall consider whether the persons have madeor are prepared to make restitution as ascertained in accordance with the standards andprocedures of Section 77-38a-302, as a condition of any parole, pardon, remission of fines or
forfeitures, or commutation or termination of sentence.
(6) In determining whether parole may be terminated, the board shall consider theoffense committed by the parolee, the parole period as provided in Section 76-3-202, and inaccordance with Section 77-27-13.
Amended by Chapter 110, 2010 General Session