Hundreds of prisoners in local Maryland jails are going without parole hearings they?re entitled to because the Parole Commission is not informed that they?re eligible, Commission Chairman David Blumberg told legislators Tuesday.
The “biggest problem,” Blumberg said, is Prince George?s County, where none of the more than 1,500 prisoners in its overcrowded jail got a parole hearing in the past year.
State parole and probation officials and the county corrections chief said the issue has been resolved. “You will never hear of the problem in Prince George?s County again,” corrections director Alfred McMurray told the House Judiciary Committee.
Patrick McGee, deputy director of parole and probation, said 130 pre-parole hearings have been set up in Prince George?s. “I think it is lack of communications” that led to the problem, McGee said.
In other jails, such as in Anne Arundel County, prisoners see little advantage in getting parole since their sentences are so short, said Robin Harting, director of the county jail.
Prisoners sentenced to local jails, rather than the state prison system, are in for 18 months or less and guilty ofnonviolent crimes, such as drug possession. Such prisoners often have their sentences reduced for good behavior.
Blumberg said some prisoners with short terms would “rather max out” and serve their full sentences, without being subject to supervision by a parole officer, paying for the supervision or having to undergo drug testing.
“We feel parole is a good thing,” Blumberg said. “The highest rate of recidivism [rearrest] is among the people who have no supervision after their release.” Parolees return to prison at less than half that rate.
The hearing was initiated by Judiciary Chairman Joseph Vallario, a Prince George?s County defense attorney, who said it was important that all prisoners around the state are treated equally and get parole hearings in a timely manner. After the hearing, Vallario said, “I?m very satisfied” that state and local officials have worked to solve the problem.
There also have been few parole hearings in Montgomery County, which has one of the best jail facilities and where many of the prisoners are on work release or in pre-release centers, Blumberg said. Prince George?s County has no work-release program now and won?t have one until facilities are built in four years, McMurray said.
