In California, a parole violation hearing is a proceeding to determine whether you violated the terms and conditions of your parole. If so, you can be sent back to state prison for up to one year. The hearing is also referred to as a parole revocation hearing.
What The Hearing Is About
During a revocation hearing, a commissioner or parole board decides:
Two Possible Outcomes of The Hearing
Note that there are instances in which a person can get early release from parole. For example, some offenders can petition the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for release from parole after six months.
Our California criminal defense attorneys will explain the following in this article:
A parole violation occurs when a parolee (or a person on parole) violates either:
Examples of some of the most common parole conditions include:
Further, some parolees may have to agree to conditions that relate to the specific offenses for which they were charged. These conditions may include, for example, restrictions that prohibit:
In addition to the above parole terms and conditions, parolees are prohibited from violating any other laws of the State of California. The Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) can set a California parole revocation hearing (and even revoke parole) for a parolee accused of committing another crime even if no criminal conviction is sustained.
Parolees accused of violating their terms are entitled to a hearing.
The parole revocation process will differ slightly depending on whether a parolee:
If a person violates a parole term or condition, then he/she will face a revocation hearing in front of a deputy commissioner for the parole board.
During this hearing, the commissioner determines whether:
To help resolve these two issues, the deputy commissioner can hear testimony from:
In addition, the parolee’s criminal defense lawyer may introduce any evidence of mitigating circumstances. These are conditions that justify a parole violation.
Note that certain due process rights protect all parolees during the course of a parole violation hearing. These rights include the right to:
Also note that, per California parole laws, a parolee must be held in county jail while awaiting his/her revocation hearing. 6
If a parolee violates a new law while violating his/her parole, then the person must attend a violation hearing in front of the parole board.
As with a hearing before a deputy commissioner, the board determines whether:
Note that on the issue of probable cause (either in a hearing with a commissioner or the parole board), the burden of proof is a “preponderance of the evidence.” This means a parolee violates parole if it is more likely than not that he/she committed a violation.
The preponderance of evidence burden is easier to meet than a burden of beyond a reasonable doubt (which is used in criminal cases and criminal trials).
Like a hearing before a deputy commissioner, a hearing before the parole board means that:
Judges may remand non-compliant parolees to prison for one year in California.
If a deputy commissioner finds that a parolee violated a term or condition of parole without good cause, and decides to revoke parole, the parolee can be reincarcerated for a maximum prison time of one year. 7
If parole is being revoked for committing a new crime, the maximum time the inmate can be reincarcerated is still one year. However, the district attorney may elect to file new criminal charges against the inmate, separate from the parole revocation. If convicted, the inmate can also be reincarcerated for the new offense.
Parolees who win parole violation hearings remain on parole and must finish their appropriate parole term.
Note that once an inmate is placed on parole, the length of parole supervision depends on the crime for which he/she was convicted. 8 Average parole terms are about three years, although some are five, and some are ten. 9
There are instances under California law where inmates can get an early release from his/her parole as long as they are not a public safety risk.
For example, some offenders can petition the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for release from parole after serving on it for six continuous months. 10
An inmate can make this petition provided that he/she:
If the CDCR grants the petition, the Board of Parole Hearings must still approve it before early release gets authorized. 12