Title PEN — California Penal Code

(a) Any time before an inmate’s release, the Governor may request review of a decision by a parole authority concerning the grant or denial of parole to any inmate in a state prison. The Governor shall state the reason or reasons for the request, and whether the request is based …

(a) During the 30 days following the granting, denial, revocation, or suspension by the board of the parole of an inmate sentenced to an indeterminate prison term based upon a conviction of murder, the Governor, when reviewing the board’s decision pursuant to subdivision (b) of S…

(a) At all hearings for the purpose of reviewing an inmate’s parole suitability, or the setting, postponing, or rescinding of parole, with the exception of en banc review of tie votes, the following shall apply: (1) At least 10 days before any hearing by the Board of Parole Heari…

The Board of Parole Hearings may conduct proceedings by videoconference. All references in this article and Article 4 of Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2960) of this title to a participant’s statutory right to meet, be present, appear, or to represent the interests of the peo…

At any hearing for the purpose of setting, postponing, or rescinding a parole release date of an inmate under a life sentence, the inmate shall be entitled to be represented by counsel and Section 3041.5 shall apply. The Board of Parole Hearings shall provide by rule for the invi…

(a) The Board of Parole Hearings shall translate all of the following documents into the five most common languages spoken by incarcerated persons who are eligible for a parole hearing: (1) Blank templates of notices used to explain the rights of incarcerated persons during the p…

(a) (1) At least 30 days before the Board of Parole Hearings meets to review or consider the parole suitability of any inmate sentenced to a life sentence, the board shall send written notice thereof to each of the following persons: the attorney who represented the defendant at …

(a) (1) Upon request to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and verification of the identity of the requester, notice of any hearing to review or consider the parole suitability for any inmate in a state prison shall be given by telephone, certified mail, regular mai…

Notwithstanding any other law, a victim, his or her next of kin, or any immediate family member of the victim who appears at any hearing to review or consider the parole suitability of any inmate pursuant to Section 3043 shall be entitled to the attendance of one person of his or…

(a) (1) In lieu of personal appearance at any hearing to review the parole suitability, the Board of Parole Hearings shall permit the victim, his or her next of kin, immediate family members, or two representatives designated for a particular hearing by the victim or next of kin …

Any victim, next of kin, members of the victim’s immediate family, or representatives designated for a particular hearing by the victim or next of kin in writing before the hearing who have the right to appear at a hearing to review parole suitability, either personally as provid…

As used in Sections 3043, 3043.1, 3043.2, and 3043.25, the term “immediate family” shall include the victim’s spouse, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, and children or grandchildren who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption. As used in Sections 3043 and 3043.2, the term…

(a) This section shall be known as the “Condit-Nolan Public Participation in Parole Act of 1984.” (b) Any person interested in the grant or denial of parole to any prisoner in a state prison shall have the right to submit a statement of views in support of or in opposition to the…

Any person authorized to appear at a parole hearing pursuant to Section 3043, or a prosecutor authorized to represent the views of the victim, his or her immediate family, or next of kin, pursuant to Section 3043.2, shall have the right to speak last before the board in regard to…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Board of Parole Hearings or its successor in interest shall be the state’s parole authority and shall be responsible for protecting victims’ rights in the parole process. Accordingly, to protect a victim from harassment and abuse during the …

Any sentence based on conviction of crime of which the person was previously pardoned on the express ground that he was not guilty shall not be counted as a previous conviction.

(a) An inmate imprisoned under a life sentence shall not be paroled until he or she has served the greater of the following: (1) A term of at least seven calendar years. (2) A term as established pursuant to any other law that establishes a minimum term or minimum period of confi…

In all other cases not heretofore provided for, no prisoner sentenced prior to July 1, 1977 may be paroled until he has served the minimum term of imprisonment provided by law for the offense of which he was convicted, except that in cases where the prisoner was serving a sentenc…

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3049, any prisoner selected for inclusion in a specific research program approved by the Board of Corrections may be paroled upon completion of the diagnostic study provided for in Section 5079. The number of prisoners released in any yea…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any inmate under the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who is not currently serving and has not served a prior indeterminate sentence or a sentence for a violent felony, a serious felony, or a crime that re…

(a) (1) A youth offender parole hearing is a hearing by the Board of Parole Hearings for the purpose of reviewing the parole suitability of any prisoner who was 25 years of age or younger, or was under 18 years of age as specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b), at the time …

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (i) of Section 3051, the board shall complete all youth offender parole hearings for individuals who were sentenced to indeterminate life terms and who become entitled to have their parole suitability considered at a youth offender parole hearing o…

The Board of Parole Hearings shall have the power to establish and enforce rules and regulations under which inmates committed to state prisons may be allowed to go upon parole outside the prison buildings and enclosures when eligible for parole.

(a) The Board of Parole Hearings upon granting any parole to any prisoner may also impose on the parole any conditions that it may deem proper. (b) The Board of Parole Hearings may impose as a condition of parole that any prisoner granted parole undergo an examination or test for…

(a) Upon the request of the victim, or the victim’s parent or legal guardian if the victim is a minor, the Board of Parole Hearings or the supervising parole agency shall impose the following condition on the parole of a person released from prison for an offense involving threat…

In the case of any person who is released from prison on parole or after serving a term of imprisonment for any felony offense committed against the person or property of another individual, private institution, or public agency because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, c…

Upon granting parole to any prisoner convicted of any of the offenses enumerated in Section 290, the Board of Parole Hearings shall inquire into the question whether the defendant at the time the offense was committed was intoxicated or addicted to the excessive use of alcoholic …

(a) Where a person committed to prison for a sex crime for which registration is required pursuant to Section 290 is to be released on parole, the department, in an appropriate case, shall make an order that the parolee not contact or communicate with the victim of the crime, or …

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, when a person is released on parole after having served a term of imprisonment for any of the offenses specified in subdivision (b) in which one or more of the victims was under 14 years of age, and for which registration is required pursuant to…

If an inmate has a prior conviction for a sexually violent offense, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 6600 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the board shall consider the results of a comprehensive risk assessment for sex offenders in considering parole.

(a) (1) The Department of Corrections shall establish three pilot programs that provide intensive training and counseling programs for female parolees to assist in the successful reintegration of those parolees into the community upon release or discharge from prison and after co…

(a) The Elderly Parole Program is hereby established, to be administered by the Board of Parole Hearings, for purposes of reviewing the parole suitability of any inmate who is 50 years of age or older and has served a minimum of 20 years of continuous incarceration on the inmate’…

(a) Prisoners on parole shall remain under the supervision of the department but shall not be returned to prison except as provided in subdivision (b) or as provided by subdivision (c) of Section 3000.09. A parolee awaiting a parole revocation hearing may be housed in a county ja…

(a) Confinement pursuant to a revocation of parole in the absence of a new conviction and commitment to prison under other provisions of law, shall not exceed 12 months, except as provided in subdivision (c). (b) Upon completion of confinement pursuant to parole revocation withou…

Any person who knowingly and wilfully communicates to another, either orally or in writing, any statement concerning any person then or theretofore convicted of a felony, and then on parole, and which communication is made with the purpose and intent to deprive said person so con…

(a) All parole officers shall report to the appropriate child protective agency if a person paroled following a conviction of Section 273a, 273ab, or 273d, or any sex offense identified in statute as being perpetrated against a minor, has violated the terms or conditions of parol…

The Department of Corrections shall provide within 10 days, upon request, to the chief of police of a city or the sheriff of a county, information available to the department, including actual, glossy photographs, no smaller than 31/8 x 31/8 inches in size, and, in conjunction wi…

(a) Whenever any person confined to state prison is serving a term for the conviction of a violent felony listed in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with respect to inmates sentenced pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1168 or…

Whenever any person confined to state prison is serving a term for a conviction of Section 646.9, the Department of Corrections shall notify by mail, at least 45 days prior to the person’s scheduled release date, the sheriff or chief of police, or both, and the district attorney …

(a) (1) Whenever any person confined in the state prison is serving a term for the conviction of child abuse, pursuant to Section 273a, 273ab, 273d, any sex offense specified as being perpetrated against a minor, or an act of domestic violence, or as ordered by a court, the Depar…

(a) Whenever any sheriff or chief of police is notified of the pending release of a convicted violent felon pursuant to Section 3058.6, that sheriff or chief of police may notify any person designated by the sheriff or chief of police as an appropriate recipient of this notice. (…

(a) At the time a notification is sent pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3058.6, the Board of Parole Hearings or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or the designated agency responsible for notification, as the case may be, shall also notify persons described i…

(a) Whenever any person confined to state prison is serving a term for the conviction of child abuse pursuant to Section 273a, 273ab, 273d, or any sex offense identified in statute as being perpetrated against a minor victim, or as ordered by any court, the Department of Correcti…

If any paroled prisoner shall leave the state without permission of his or her supervising parole agency, he or she shall be held as an escaped prisoner and arrested as such.

Upon the revocation of the parole of any prisoner who was ordered by the court to pay an additional restitution fine pursuant to Section 1202.45, but which was suspended by that section, the additional restitution fine shall be reinstated without the need for any further court pr…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the parole authority shall revoke the parole of any prisoner who refuses to sign any form required by the Department of Justice stating that the duty of the prisoner to register under Section 290 has been explained to the prisoner, unle…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on or after January 1, 2001, whenever any paroled person is returned to custody or has his or her parole revoked for conduct described in subdivision (c) of Section 290, the supervising parole agency shall report the circumstances that …

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the supervising parole agency shall notify any person released on parole or postrelease community supervision pursuant to Title 2.05 (commencing with Section 3450) of Part 3 who has been classified by the Department of Corrections and Rehabi…

(a) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is hereby authorized to expand the use of parole programs or services to improve the rehabilitation of parolees, reduce recidivism, reduce prison overcrowding, and improve public safety through the following: (1) The use of int…

The Governor of the state shall have like power to revoke the parole of any prisoner. The written authority of the Governor shall likewise be sufficient to authorize any peace officer to retake and return any prisoner to the state prison. The Governor’s written order revoking the…