The parole board usually makes up its mind quickly, please call us to make sure they take their time deciding your case
Often offender's focus too much on when the decision will be made instead of what the decision will be. However, it is important to know that for the majority of cases there is no definitive deadline or timetable for when the Texas Parole Board must make a decision. We can however provide some information based on our experiences. The parole board makes two general types of decisions that are discussed below.
- Parole revocation: If an offender requests a parole hearing a decision is made between two and four weeks from the date of the hearing. Although, I have been told that parole officers sometimes tell parolees to waive their right to a hearing to quicken the process in our opinion it is never a good idea to make any admissions regarding an alleged violation or to waive any of your constitutionally protected rights including a hearing.
- Granting or denying parole: This can depend on many factors. Our experience is that a move has been made to vote cases as close to the eligibility date as possible. However, prior to making a decision the board must receive the file from the institutional parole officer. Once they have received that file, the decision is usually made within two weeks. If it is a case requiring a special vote it will take longer. Additionally, if a voter would like to meet with an offender it can take longer. We always request an in person interview with the lead voter assigned to a case and generally a decision is made within one to two weeks from that meeting.
These are just estimates. Depending on the specifics of a case the Parole Board can take the amount of time they believe is necessary to make an informed decision.
The most difficult cases to predict are for offenders sentenced to short sentences. In these cases a great deal depends on the length of time it take for the offender to go through processing and for the IPO to gather the necessary information. This will sometimes mean that the file is not ready until after the eligibility date. If you have questions regarding when the Texas Parole Board will make a decision about an offender please fill out an online contact form or call us on our toll free number 888-661-5030 for a free consultation. Our offices are in Houston and we represent offenders in prison units across the State of Texas who are from Houston, Dallas, Austin, Midland, Fort Worth, San Antonio and other cities around the State.