The role of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is to decide which eligible offenders should be released from prison to parole or another type of mandatory supervision. They use a set of guidelines to evaluate each offender’s likelihood of success if granted parole and weigh that likelihood to the risk to society if the offender is released.
If an offender who has been released violates the terms of his or her parole, the Board decides what measures to take. These measures may include revoking the offender’s parole and sending him or her back to prison, imposing more or different conditions on the offender’s parole, placing the offender in a different type of facility
The Board also makes recommendations on clemency matters to the Governor. This includes making recommendations about requests for pardons. The Governor can issue a pardon with the written recommendation of a majority of the Board. Options can include full pardons following a conviction or completion of a deferred adjudication community supervision program, conditional pardons, and commutation of sentences. In death penalty cases, the Governor can grant one 30-day reprieve to the individual without the recommendations of the Board. If the Board and Governor wish to grant clemency in a death penalty case, then the sentence of the offender will be commuted from death to life in prison.
A pardon restores some, but not all, citizenship rights to the individual. Specifically, following a pardon issued by the Governor, the individual can hold public office, serve on a jury, and serve as the executor or administrator of an estate. However, a pardon will not allow the individual to become eligible to serve as a peace officer, and the individual still may be barred from certain types of professional licenses. State licensing boards for each profession determine the suitability and eligibility of individuals who apply for licenses and it is up to their discretion whether to grant the application for licensing.
An experienced Texas criminal defense attorney can help you build a strong defense against any criminal charges, as well as educate you about your rights and responsibilities before the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole. We are here to evaluate the facts surrounding your case, present your options, and help you make the decisions that will be most beneficial to you, based on your circumstances. Contact Peek Law Group at (512) 359-3362 today and see how we can help.