How Parole Works in Tennessee

Many of the job-related questions I get asked concern how or why a particular thing occurs or what will happen next. I tend to use questions I am asked as topics for articles, because I figure if at least two people ask a particular question, there are probably more who wonder the same thing. Many questions I get concern parole, simply because I deal with more family members and friends at least on the front end of parole than I do with probation. So here is a very basic guide on how parole works from a field officer's view point in my state, Tennessee.

First, a felony crime must be committed and someone must be convicted of the crime in a court of law. That person must either be convicted or plead guilty and be sentenced to serve his sentence or else be placed on a suspended sentence (probation), violate that probation, and be revoked to serve his sentence.

Next he must serve a set percentage of that sentence in either a state prison or county jail. Felons are divided in offender ranges based on class of felonies and number of convictions. A felon who is considered a range 1 offender must serve a minimum of 30% of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The higher the range, the more of the sentence must be served before being considered for parole. Now being eligible for parole is not the same as receiving it. Parole is not guaranteed just by serving a certain percentage of the sentence. The parolee must convince the Parole Board he or she deserves to get parole. This is done in what is called a grant hearing.

Now in my state, the potential parolee does not appear before the actual board. He appears in front of a hearing officer in a quasi-legal meeting similar to a court hearing. This hearing officer represents the board, but does not make the actual decision; he makes a series of recommendation, which the board will later vote on after reviewing the hearing, inmate records, and officer recommendations. All parole hearings are recorded for review by the board.