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<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-19</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson</ns0:AuthorText>
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<ns0:Name>Patterson</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Title> An act to amend Sections 3041.5 and 3055 of the Penal Code, relating to parole. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>parole</ns0:RelatingClause>
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<ns0:Subject>Parole denial term.</ns0:Subject>
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<html:p>Existing law, as amended by Proposition 9, the Victim’s Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law, at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires the Board of Parole Hearings, following a decision denying parole, to schedule the next hearing 3, 5, 7, 10, or 15 years from the date of the last hearing, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the board, in its discretion and after considering the views and interests of the victim, to advance a hearing to an earlier date, when a change in circumstances or new information establishes a reasonable likelihood that consideration of the public and victim’s safety does not require additional incarceration. Existing law authorizes an inmate to request that the board exercise its discretion to advance a hearing and provides the procedure for an inmate to make that request. </html:p>
<html:p>This bill would
remove the board’s authority to advance a parole hearing to an earlier date and would remove the corresponding provisions authorizing an inmate to request an advancement of their hearing date. </html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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Section 3041.5 of the
<ns0:DocName>Penal Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Num>3041.5.</ns0:Num>
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(a)
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At all hearings for the purpose of reviewing an inmate’s parole suitability, or the setting, postponing, or rescinding of parole, with the exception of en banc review of tie votes, the following shall apply:
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<html:p>
(1)
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At least 10 days before any hearing by the Board of Parole Hearings, the inmate shall be permitted to review the file which will be examined by the board and shall have the opportunity to enter a written response to any material contained in the file.
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(2)
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The inmate shall be permitted to be present, to ask and answer questions, and to speak on
their own behalf. Neither the inmate nor the attorney for the inmate shall be entitled to ask questions of any person appearing at the hearing pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3043.
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(3)
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Unless legal counsel is required by some other law, a person designated by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall be present to ensure that all facts relevant to the decision be presented, including, if necessary, contradictory assertions as to matters of fact that have not been resolved by departmental or other procedures.
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(4)
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The inmate and any person described in subdivision (b) of Section 3043 shall be permitted to request and receive a stenographic record of all proceedings.
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<html:p>
(5)
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If the hearing is for the purpose of postponing or rescinding parole, the inmate shall have
the rights set forth in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 2932.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
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The board shall set a date to reconsider whether an inmate should be released on parole that ensures a meaningful consideration of whether the inmate is suitable for release on parole.
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(b)
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(1)
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Within 10 days following any decision granting parole, the board shall send the inmate a written statement setting forth the reason or reasons for granting parole, the conditions the inmate shall meet in order to be released, and the consequences of failure to meet those conditions.
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(2)
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Within 20 days following any
decision denying parole, the board shall send the inmate a written statement setting forth the reason or reasons for denying parole, and suggest activities in which
the inmate might participate that will benefit them while they are incarcerated.
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(3)
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The board shall schedule the next hearing, after considering the views and interests of the victim, as follows:
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<html:p>
(A)
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Fifteen years after any hearing at which parole is denied, unless the board finds by clear and convincing evidence that the criteria relevant to the decision denying parole are such that consideration of the public and victim’s safety does not
require a more lengthy period of incarceration for the inmate than 10 additional years.
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(B)
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Ten years after any hearing at which parole is denied, unless the board finds by clear and convincing evidence that the criteria relevant to the decision denying parole are such that consideration of the public and victim’s safety does not require a more lengthy period of incarceration for the inmate than seven additional years.
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(C)
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Three years, five years, or seven years after any hearing at which parole is denied, because the criteria relevant to the decision denying parole are such that consideration of the public and victim’s safety requires a more lengthy period of incarceration for the inmate, but does not require a more lengthy period of incarceration for the inmate than seven additional years.
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<html:p>
(4)
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Within 10 days of any board action resulting in the rescinding of parole, the board shall send the inmate a written statement setting forth the reason or reasons for that action, and shall schedule the inmate’s next hearing in accordance with paragraph (3).
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(c)
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The board shall conduct a parole hearing pursuant to this section as a de novo hearing. Findings made and conclusions reached in a prior parole hearing shall be considered in but shall not be deemed to be binding upon subsequent parole hearings for an inmate, but shall be subject to reconsideration based upon changed facts and circumstances. When conducting a hearing, the board shall admit the prior recorded or memorialized testimony or statement of a victim or witness, upon request of the victim or if the victim or
witness has died or become unavailable. At each hearing the board shall determine the appropriate action to be taken based on the criteria set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041.
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Section 3055 of the
<ns0:DocName>Penal Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Num>3055.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
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The Elderly Parole Program is hereby established, to be administered by the Board of Parole Hearings, for purposes of reviewing the parole suitability of any inmate who is 50 years of age or older and has served a minimum of 20 years of continuous incarceration on the inmate’s current sentence, serving either a determinate or indeterminate sentence.
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(b)
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(1)
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For purposes of this code, the term “elderly parole eligible date” means the date on which an inmate who qualifies as an elderly offender is eligible for release from prison.
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<html:p>
(2)
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For purposes of this section, “incarceration” means detention in a city or county jail, local juvenile facility, a mental health facility, a Division of Juvenile Justice facility, or a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility.
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<html:p>
(c)
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When considering the release of an inmate specified by subdivision (a) pursuant to Section 3041, the board shall give special consideration to whether age, time served, and diminished physical condition, if any, have reduced the elderly inmate’s risk for future violence.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
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When scheduling a parole consideration hearing date pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3041.5, the board shall consider whether the inmate meets or will meet the criteria specified in subdivision (a).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
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An individual who is subject to this section shall meet with the board pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3041. If an inmate is found suitable for parole under the Elderly Parole Program, the board shall release the individual on parole as provided in Section 3041.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
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If parole is not granted, the board shall set the time for a subsequent elderly parole hearing in accordance with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041.5. No subsequent elderly parole hearing shall be necessary if the offender is released pursuant to other statutory provisions prior to the date of the subsequent hearing.
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<html:p>
(g)
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This section does not apply to cases in which sentencing occurs pursuant to Section 1170.12, subdivisions (b) to (i), inclusive, of Section 667, or in cases which an individual was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or death.
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<html:p>
(h)
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This section does not apply if the person was convicted of first-degree murder if the victim was a peace officer, as defined in Section 830.1, 830.2, 830.3, 830.31, 830.32, 830.33, 830.34, 830.35, 830.36, 830.37, 830.4, 830.5, 830.6, 830.10, 830.11, or 830.12, who was killed while engaged in the performance of their duties, and the
individual knew, or reasonably should have known, that the victim was a peace officer engaged in the performance of their duties, or the victim was a peace officer or a former peace officer under any of the above-enumerated sections, and was intentionally killed in retaliation for the performance of their official duties.
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(i)
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This section does not alter the rights of victims at parole hearings.
</html:p>
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(j)
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By December 31, 2022, the board shall complete all elderly parole hearings for individuals who were sentenced to determinate or indeterminate terms and who, on the effective date of the bill that added this subdivision, are or will be entitled to have their parole suitability considered at an elderly parole hearing before January 1, 2023.
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