For more than 1 in 5 people in state prison, parole boards control their continued incarceration. The sizable role and impact of parole boards warrant sufficient oversight, more transparency, and proper resources to ensure public safety is prioritized. Click “Menu” above to view key findings, state-by-state reports, and a national snapshot of parole in America.

 

The decisions made by parole boards significantly influence the size of prison populations, staffing needs, and costs in 34 states. The incarceration of over 210,000 people currently in prison is in the hands of 235 people who serve as parole board members in those states.¹ 

These parole-eligible people have completed any minimum sentence required by law or the court but remain in prison under the authority of the parole board’s judgment. While parole eligibility doesn’t guarantee release, timely and informed decisions are essential for public safety, managing prison populations, and ensuring corrections systems operate effectively despite staffing challenges and overall costs to taxpayers. When parole boards are under-resourced, a substantial number of people remain incarcerated beyond their parole eligibility, limiting opportunities for successful reentry and placing a significant financial burden on states.  

Parole boards are also responsible for addressing victims’ needs and rights, ensuring fairness, and building community trust. Victims deserve to feel their safety and experiences are valued, and fair parole decisions can offer reassurance. By basing decisions on objective criteria, parole boards strengthen public trust, showing the justice system can balance accountability and safe reintegration. Given their critical role in public safety, parole boards deserve greater attention, oversight, and resources.  

State policymakers can support the critical role of parole boards through the following strategies:  

• Ensure that the programming required of people prior to parole is available and able to be completed without delay or due to a lack of funding. 

• Urge or require parole decision-making to be structured so it is more predictable, objective, and consistent, and preserve parole discretion in the most difficult cases. 

• Professionalize parole boards through training, salaries, and support staff for this group of people making critical public safety decisions. 

• Require the use of objective (and validated) assessments of risk and needs for parole boards to utilize in structuring decision-making. 

¹ While there are 34 states with discretionary parole, we can only create estimates for the 31 states that submitted enough data through the National Corrections Reporting Program. Note: Although Louisiana eliminated discretionary parole in 2024, it is included among the 34 paroling states in this tool because the majority of the population remains eligible for parole release under the previous system.