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You can learn just how badly the Parole Board does its vital work

Thu, 2019-06-20 00:00 +0000 — Chris Dornin
By Chris Dornin, co-founder of Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform
 
Parole and prison officials will meet with 40 lawmakers on June 25 to explain a scathing performance audit of the Parole Board that was published in April. The review found dozens of major problems, some of which are probably unsolvable unless the state budget gives the Parole Board better funding.  
 
The hearing before the full House Judiciary Committee and the Criminal Justice Committee starts at 10 a.m. in Room 208 of the Legislative Office Building.  This is one of the most important meetings of the last few years on New Hampshire criminal justice reform and the problems that need reforming. 
 
The entire Parole Board and top leaders in Corrections answered tough questions about the performance audit in April before the Legislative Fiscal Committee. Vilay Skidds, a co-author of the report, laid out dozens of major problems her team discovered. Here’s a sample. 
 
“We found information the Board received when evaluating inmates for parole was not always complete and mental health and substance abuse information was not always accurate because neither Board Members nor staff had access to this information.”
 
“We also found there was no process to standardize the criteria used to make parole decisions leading to variations in how Board Members used and prioritized inmate information.” 
 
“The Board also did not have a process to review parolee records as required by law to determine whether supervision levels were appropriate or whether the parole --_the_parolee_should_be_brought_back_before_the_Board.” 
 
“We found the Board did not establish administrative rules for some of its processes and imposed additional requirements which were not formally adopted.” 
 
“It also did not have policies and procedures for operational tasks leading to heavy reliance on institutional knowledge to carry out operations. This resulted in non-compliance with some of its own rules and statutes, including the Right-To-Know Law.” 
 
“Finally, we found the Board did not have a process to collect data or evaluate whether its activities contributed to its overall mission of protecting public safety.”
 
Attached is a transcript of the April meeting. It’s well worth reading. The full 120-page performance audit report is available on line at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/LBA/AuditReports/PerformanceReports/DOC_NH_Adult_Parole_Board_2019.pdf

 

Conflict issue casts shadow on NH felony cases

Tue, 2018-10-23 14:41 +0000 — DRBob

Important article if you or someone that you know was prosecuted by Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan during the last year or so? READMORE  

FREE Criminal Record Annulment Clinic

Wed, 2018-04-18 10:58 +0000 — DRBob

The NH Bar Association's Pro Bono Referral Program is offering a FREE record annulment clinic for those interested in information and/or advice on annulling (expunging) old NH criminal records. There will be a brief overview followed by the opportunity to meet one-on-one with volunteer attorneys. To pre-register (not mandatory, but helpful for scheduling attorney meetings), please email probono@nhbar.org or call 224-5387 and leave a message with your name and phone number.

Women’s prison in Concord scheduled for fall completion, but staffing could delay its opening

Tue, 2017-03-21 00:00 +0000 — Posted by CCJR Staff

According to the Concord Monitor: The new women’s prison is starting to take shape behind the men’s correctional complex on North State Street. But when the new building will open is anyone’s guess,

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