Legal Dictionary

parole board

Legal Definition of parole board

Related terms


Definition of parole board

Noun

parole board (plural parole boards)

  1. A panel of people who decide if a prisoner should be released on parole.

Further reading

A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and the United States. A related concept is the board of pardons and paroles, which may deal with pardons and commutations as well as paroles.

A parole board consists of people qualified to make judgements about the suitability of a prisoner for return to free society. Members may be judges, psychiatrists, or criminologists. Many states do not have written qualifications for parole board members and will allow community members to serve in that capacity. Some states require all members to possess a 4 year degree, while others do not. Each state has a different requirement for parole board appointment. The universal requirement is that the candidate for membership has to be of good moral fiber.

References:

  1. Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.



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