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Indiana Pardon and Parole Laws

In Indiana, laws relating to pardon and parole can be found in Title 11 of Indiana code.

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-9-1-1, the parole board is established consisting of five members appointed by the governor.  A member must hold at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; or have at least ten years of law enforcement experience; and must have the skill, training, or experience to analyze questions of law, administration, and public policy.

Powers and Duties of the Board

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-9-1-2, the parole board must:

1) Organize the division and employ personnel as are needed to properly discharge the functions of the board;
2) Make parole release and revocation decisions;
3) Make pardon, clemency, reprieve, and remission recommendations to the governor;
4) Collect, develop, and maintain statistical information concerning its services and decisions;
5) Keep records of its official actions and make them accessible according to law;
6) Cooperate with public and private agencies, local communities, and private groups and individuals for the development and improvement of its services;
7)  Explain its functions to the public; and
8.  Make an annual report to the governor by September 1 of each year containing a description of its operations for the preceding fiscal year ending June 30, an evaluation of its effectiveness, any recommendations for statutory, budgetary, or other changes considered necessary to improve its effectiveness, and any other information required by law.

The parole board may:

1) Conduct inquiries, investigations, and reviews and hold hearings to properly discharge its functions;
2) Issue subpoenas, enforceable by action in circuit and superior courts, to compel any person to appear, give sworn testimony, or produce documentary evidence relating to any matter under inquiry, investigation, hearing, or review;
3) Administer oaths and take testimony of persons under oath;
4) Request from any public agency assistance, services, and information that will enable it to properly discharge its functions;
5)  Enter, without notice, premises within the department’s control, to confer with any committed person;
6)  Adopt, under IC 4-22-2, rules to properly discharge its functions; and
7)  Exercise any other power necessary in discharging its duties and powers[i].

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-9-2-1, an application to the governor for commutation of sentence, pardon, reprieve, or remission of fine or forfeiture shall be filed with the parole board. The application must be in writing and signed by the person seeking gubernatorial relief or by a person on his behalf. The board may require the applicant to furnish information, on forms provided by the parole board, that it considers necessary to conduct a proper inquiry and hearing regarding the application.

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-9-2-2, the parole board must submit to the governor its recommendation regarding an application for commutation of sentence, pardon, reprieve, or remission of fine or forfeiture. Before submitting its recommendation, the parole board must do all of the following:

1) Notify the sentencing court, the victim of the crime for which the person was convicted (or the next of kin of the victim if the victim is deceased or incompetent for any reason), unless the victim has made a written request not to be notified, and the prosecuting attorney of the county where the conviction was obtained.
2) Conduct an investigation, which must include the collection of records, reports, and other information relevant to consideration of the application.
3) Conduct a hearing where the petitioner and other interested persons are given an opportunity to appear and present information regarding the application.  The hearing may be conducted in an informal manner without regard to formal rules of evidence.

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-9-2-4, the governor may issue a pardon that conditions the removal of all disabilities applicable to holding a handgun permit or other license issued under IC 35-47-2 upon a determination by the superintendent of state police that circumstances have changed to such an extent since the pardoned conviction was entered that the applicant for the permit or license is likely to handle handguns in compliance with the law.

Conditions of Parole

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-13-3-4, a condition to remaining on parole is that the parolee not commit a crime during the period of parole.  The parole board may also adopt, additional conditions to remaining on parole and require a parolee to satisfy one or more of these conditions. These conditions must be reasonably related to the parolee’s successful reintegration into the community and not unduly restrictive of a fundamental right.

As a condition of parole, the parole board may require the parolee to reside in a particular parole area. In determining a parolee’s residence requirement, the parole board must consider the residence of the parolee prior to the parolee’s incarceration and the parolee’s place of employment.  The board must also assign the parolee to reside in the county where the parolee resided prior to the parolee’s incarceration unless assignment on this basis would be detrimental to the parolee’s successful reintegration into the community.

As a condition of parole, the parole board may require the parolee to periodically undergo a laboratory chemical test or series of tests to detect and confirm the presence of a controlled substance; and have the results of any test reported to the parole board by the laboratory.

As a condition of parole, the parole board may require a parolee who is a sex offender to participate in a treatment program for sex offenders approved by the parole board and avoid contact with any person who is less than 16 years of age unless the parolee receives the parole board’s approval or successfully completes the treatment program.

The board must:

1) require a parolee who is a sex or violent offender to register with a local law enforcement authority,
2) prohibit a parolee who is a sex offender from residing within 1,000 feet of school property for the period of parole, unless the sex offender obtains written approval from the parole board,
3) prohibit a parolee who is a sex offender convicted of a sex offense  from residing within one mile of the victim of the sex offender’s sex offense unless the sex offender obtains a waiver,
4)prohibit a parolee who is a sex offender from owning, operating, managing, being employed by, or volunteering at any attraction designed to be primarily enjoyed by children less than 16 years of age;
5)require a parolee who is a sex offender to consent to the search of the sex offender’s personal computer at any time
6)prohibit the sex offender from accessing or using certain web sites, chat rooms, or instant messaging programs frequented by children; and deleting, erasing, or tampering with information on the sex offender’s personal computer with intent to conceal a prohibited activity.

As a condition of parole, the parole board may require a parolee to participate in a reentry court program.  As a condition of parole, the parole board:

1) must require a parolee who is a sexually violent predator and
2) may require a parolee who is a sex or violent offender to wear a monitoring device that can transmit information 24 hours each day regarding a person’s precise location.

As a condition of parole, the parole board may prohibit a parolee who has been convicted of stalking from residing within 1,000 feet of the residence of the victim of the stalking for a period that does not exceed five years.

As a condition of parole, the parole board may prohibit a parolee convicted of an offense under IC 35-46-3 from owning, harboring, or training an animal, and, if the parole board prohibits a parolee convicted of an offense under IC 35-46-3 from having direct or indirect contact with an individual, the parole board may also prohibit the parolee from having direct or indirect contact with any animal belonging to the individual[ii].

Discharge

Pursuant to Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-13-3-5, a person released on parole from an indeterminate term of imprisonment remains on parole until the expiration date of the term of imprisonment, except that the parole board may discharge the person from that term any time after the person’s release on parole.  A person released on parole from a determinate term of imprisonment remains on parole until the determinate term expires, except that the parole board may discharge the person from that term any time after the person’s release on parole.  A person released on parole from a term of life imprisonment remains on parole for life, except that the parole board may discharge the person at any time after the person’s release on parole.  When parole is terminated by discharge, the parole board must enter an order discharging the person from parole and term of imprisonment.

Indiana Pardon and Parole Laws

[i] Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-9-1-2.

[ii] Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 11-13-3-4.


Inside Indiana Pardon and Parole Laws