NH bill would let parole board decide on release

State parole board officials should have the power to keep inmates behind bars longer, reversing part of last year's prison reform law that said violators could be recommitted for a maximum of 90 days, witnesses told a Senate committee Thursday.

While there was some agreement on changing the recommitment limit, witnesses did not agree whether to change the mandatory release of all inmates nine months before they complete their sentences to they can be placed under intense supervision.  Read more...

Controversial parole law goes into effect in NH

CONCORD, N.H.—Robert Audette's son was convicted of setting fire to a vacant building in 2007 and is being released from prison nine months before his sentence is up as part of New Hampshire's new mandatory parole law.

Audette, of Hooksett, says he's glad his son, 20-year-old Robert Shawn Audette, is coming home this week, but he believes criminals should serve their full sentences.
 
"I'm kind of like being put in the middle of two places," Audette said. "Some of the sex offenders are coming out and that worries me. My son wasn't in for a sex crime. But what he did was wrong. They're put in for an amount of time and they should do that amount of time."  Read More...

Inmates' treatment bottleneck means delays in release

CONCORD – State prison inmates trying to earn parole, many of them with alcohol and drug abuse backgrounds, face a shortage of treatment programs they need to attend as a condition of being set free.

Alan Coburn, a member of the Adult Parole Board, told a committee studying parole issues yesterday that because treatment options are few, many inmates ready for release remain behind bars for up to a year while they wait their turn.  Read More...