Board of Pardons and Parole Correspondence, i 1914-1948; 1982-

The primary activities of the Board of Pardons are documented in this correspondence. The Board has the legal responsibility for determining, under guidelines established at court sentencing, the amount of time a prisoner should be incarcerated and the conditions under which release could be granted. Following release from prison, the board maintains jurisdiction over the offender; and if conditions of release are violated, it has the authority to return the violator to prison. In addition to illustrating the exercise of these responsibilities, some of the correspondence provides information about individual prisoners, which is used by the Board to help make decisions about individual cases. Established procedures used in the meetings to consider case loads presented to he Board and criteria used to make determinations for release or continued incarceration are also discussed in the correspondence.

Attachments to the correspondence include "Information reports" from court officials,court transcripts, petitions, agendas, applications for release, newspaper notices, affidavits, and summaries of the results of hearings. The first communication about an individual prisoner is usually the information report sent to the Board of Pardons by district court judges after sentencing is concluded. Among other things, an information document summarizes the judges knowledge of the case and expresses an opinion about how long the term of imprisonment should be. A court transcript is often attached to this information document, which usually includes a statement made by the district attorney about the plea or the conduct of the trial. The other documents appear sporadically, depending upon the nature of a case.

The following variables--often the subjects of individual letters--are used by the Board in making decisions about offenders: earlier violations of conditions of release; past arrest record; the number of times previously incarcerated; past work history; opportunitiesfor adequate employment upon release; behavior while in prison, such as participation in education, job training, religious, or other programs which they felt showed improved attitudes and conduct; and a history of conformity to rules and regulations of the prison or jail.

In making their decisions, board members correspond with district courts, the Attorney General's Office, the state executive office, Adult Probation and Parole personnel, district attorneys, county commissioners, prison officials, private lawyers, private agencies, employers, clergymen, the prisoners themselves, and private citizens who are usually the friends and relatives of the criminal offender.