Parole backlog: Joint Legislative Committee says some inmates not receiving timely parole hearings

Legislative watchdag report indicates Mississippi Parole Board faces backlog

JACKSON, Mississippi — Mississippi prison officials say they’re working to erase a backlog of parole cases that are up for consideration, as recommended by a legislative watchdog group.

The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review released a report Monday that said some inmates are not receiving parole hearings the first month they’re eligible, and that is causing the state to spend thousands of dollars a month to keep people in prison longer than necessary.

The report recommended that the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Parole Board work together to produce up-to-date lists of inmates who become eligible for parole. The agencies said, in response, that they’re doing that.

Gulflive
9/22/14