Amnesty Offer For Some State Parolees Until March 31

BENTONVILLE -- Some state parolees who have disappeared from the legal radar have until March 31 to turn themselves in and avoid more jail or prison time.

Arkansas Community Correction has started a short-run amnesty program that could help parolees who have quit reporting, said Dina Tyler, agency deputy director.

At A Glance

Amnesty Program

Dina Tyler, a deputy director for Arkansas Community Correction, said more than 100 parolees have turned themselves in as part of an amnesty program that the agency is offering. The amnesty started Feb. 1 and is being offered until March 31.

Source: Staff Report

"This is the chance for some to wipe the slate clean and start over," Tyler said. This pretty much is a one-shot deal. Right now, we aren't planning on offering it again."

The amnesty offer is a first for the agency and started Feb. 1, Tyler said.

There are more than 2,000 people in Arkansas who have absconded and no longer report to parole officers.

"Some have not been reporting for a few months and some longer than a year," Tyler said. "A lot of the time people are holding jobs and following most rules except reporting to a parole officer. The amnesty is for those folks we need to re-engage in supervision."

The amnesty isn't available to anyone with new charges since going on parole or anyone who has a detainer from another state.

"In those cases the person is going to have to be locked up somewhere," Tyler said.

The amnesty offer only applies to parolees, not for people who are on probation. Probation issues are handled by the courts, Tyler said.

Parole officers will ask the parole board for an arrest warrant after a parolee fails to report for more than 31 days, Tyler said.

The amnesty effort is a chance for parolees to avoid jail or prison time. Parolees will have to catch up with any unpaid supervision fees and they will have to report to a parole officer, Tyler said.

"Parole is a privilege and early release comes with strings," Tyler said. "You have to follow all the conditions or you go back to prison."

The department created a special team of parole and probation officers in January to apprehend absconders. The team, with the assistance of other law enforcement agencies, has arrested 73 people Tyler said. March 31 is the deadline for the amnesty, but Tyler said the team won't wait until then to begin searching for parole violators.

The amnesty program could help prevent more state prisoners from filling up county jails.

Keshia Guyll, spokeswoman for the Benton County Sheriff's Office, said the jail is holding 187 state prisoners, and 77 of those are parole violators.

Maj. Randall Denzer with the Washington County Sheriff's Office said the jail is holding 66 parole violators among the 150 prisoners who await transport to the Arkansas Department of Correction.

There are almost 3,000 state prisoners in county jails across the state, Denzer said. The number was about 2,000 at the beginning of the year.

Denzer believes an amnesty program could some help and free up beds.

"There's usually two, three or more parolees arrested a week and brought into the jail," Denzer said.

Some of individuals would not be in jail if they qualified for the amnesty, Denzer said.

Individuals must serve their time on parole, Tyler said. The clock stops when people stop reporting, Tyler said.

For example, if a person stops reporting for three months then he or she will have to stay on parole for an additional three months, Tyler said.

"That's the law," Tyler said. "It's there so people don't go into hiding to avoid their time on parole."

Tyler compared the amnesty with programs law enforcement agencies and courts offer people in traffic-related cases.

"We think a lot of people are going to wait until the last minute to turn themselves in," Tyler said.

NW News on 03/08/2014

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