Q On parole in Texas, am I getting credit towards my parole or sentence once a warrant is out?
If you are on parole in Texas and a blue warrant is issued based on alleged violations of your parole you may or may not get credit for that time. It is easiest to imagine if you think of the credit pausing when the warrant is issued and un-pausing when the offender is arrested on the warrant. What happens with the time in between will depend on whether the parole is revoked or not. If your parole is revoked you will not receive credit from the time the warrant was issued through the time of your arrest. Often we are asked this question from people who believe that if they can avoid getting arrested until after their parole completion date they have nothing to worry about because they have discharged their parole. This is not true. Once the warrant is issued you are no longer receiving credit. Even if your parole completion date passes, the warrant for your arrest is still in effect and you face the possibility of being returned to prison. Additionally, if you disappear for a long time parole will often treat you as an absconder and it could hurt your chances of receiving a favorable outcome in the revocation process. If your parole is then revoked you will return to TDCJ and at a minimum have to serve the amount of time from the time the blue warrant was issued until the completion date.
If you have a parole hearing and the parole board does not revoke parole, then the parolee is not penalized for the time that the blue warrant had been pending. Thus, there are some cases where the parole board’s only options are either to revoke a person’s parole or to terminate the person’s parole. This area of Texas parole law can be confusing; please complete our online secure contact form if you have questions about blue warrants or credit in relation to a possible revocation. We can guide you through this process and defend you at a revocation hearing if necessary. Please call us at our toll free number for a free consultation. You have rights and if you have potential problems with your Texas parole, doing nothing is never the right choice. We represent parolee’s at parole hearings in Houston, Montgomery County, Fort Bend, Galveston and other surrounding cities and counties.
