LOUISIANA BOARD OF PARDONS

Regular MeetingMinutes

Monday, March 7, 2016

A meeting of the Louisiana Board of Pardons & Parole met on Monday, March 7, 2016 in the Board hearing room located at 504 Mayflower, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ms. Sheryl Ranatza, Board Chair, called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.

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Members present: Ms. Sheryl Ranatza, Mr. Jim Wise, Mr. Kenneth Loftin, Mr. Alvin Roche’, Jr., Judge James Kuhn

Staff present: Ms. Mary Fuentes, Ms. Mona Wagner, Mr. John Poche

A quorum was declared present and the meeting opened for business.

Public Comment: No public comment was made

Regular Business

a. Review and Approval of Minutes, December 8, 2015, Regular Meeting

Without objection, reading of the minutes of previous Board meeting of December 8, 2015 was dispensed by Board. Motion was made by Mr. Jim Wise, seconded by Ms. Ranatza to approve the minutes of the December 8, 2015 meeting.

b. Administrative Review of Clemency Applications

The board conducted the administrative review of the clemency applications.

New Business

a. Consideration of revision to Title 22, Part V, Chapter 2,; §203, §205, and §211

  • Ms. Ranatza mentioned there was a copy of a notice of intent to amend its rules of LAC 22:V:203, 205, and 211 in each board member's packet. These proposed rule changes revise application filing procedures and eligibility for clemency reconsideration. Section 203 provides that an incarcerated applicant must be free of disciplinary reports for a period of twenty-four (24) months prior to submitting an application for clemency and for the twenty-four (24) month period prior to a clemency hearing. Section 205 establishes procedures for an applicant to request reconsideration when notified by the board that no action was taken by the Governor on their initial application. If an applicant is notified that no action was taken by the Governor, the applicant may request reconsideration of the board’s favorable recommendation. Applicant must submit a re-application within one year from the date on the board’s notification to the applicant of no action taken by the Governor. Upon receipt of the re-application in accordance with this section, the board shall set the matter for an administrative review. At least 30 days prior to the scheduled docket date for administrative review, the board shall give written notice of the date, time, and place to the district attorney, sheriff, the applicant, and the victim. The board shall evaluate the record of the applicant. Action on the re-application may include setting the matter for a clemency hearing, affirming the board’s previous favorable recommendation, or denying the re-application. Motion was made by Mr. Roche’ and was seconded by Mr. Wise and without objection passed unanimously.

b. Consideration of revision to Title 22, Part XI, Chapter 3, §307

  • Ms. Ranatza provided information on LAC 22:XI:307. The Legislation passed in 2015 that changed the way medical parole is considered. Medical parole consideration shall be in addition to any other parole for which an offender may be eligible. An offender eligible for both medical parole and traditional parole under the provisions of R.S. 15:574.4 but shall be first considered for traditional parole.
  • Proposed revisions to Board policy 03-301, "Parole Eligibility and Types of Parole" that corresponds to the LAC revisions were also reviewed and discussed. Language was added that may limit medical parole eligibility when the medical condition was present at the time of sentencing. It also provides that the Division of Probation and Parole (P&P) shall monitor offenders that have been granted medical parole until the offender’s death or the expiration of their sentence. P&P shall submit a monthly report of all medical paroles to the Board Chair by the 10th of each month. The report must include the latest narrative report from the offender’s P&P officer, date and time of death if indicated, and any other information deemed to be appropriate. Motion was made by Mr. Loftin to adopt the LAC and policy revisions. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wise and without objection passed unanimously.
  • Mr. Roche’ moved that the "recommendations from the Division of Probation and Parole" be removed under Regular Parole, part 1.B.4, of the policy (03-301). Motion was seconded by Mr. Loftin and passed without objection.

Other Business

a. Presentation by JETOH Monitoring, LLC

  • Mr. Christian Helmke made a presentation by JETOH Monitoring LLC – Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) device. SCRAM Systems technologies are designed to fit the client's supervision model, budget, laws, and purchasing processes. The device is supported by the SCRAM Systems Program Management Center, which brings together everything from monitoring of the entire product line tothe best-in-industry court support program, 24/7 customer support, mobile applications, offender compliance analytics, and beyond.

Adjournment

There being no other business, motion was made for adjournment by Mr. Wise. The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

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Mona Wagner, Corrections Management Officer