2021 Legislative Update - Parole Eligibility Expansions & Good Time Changes

Effective August 1, 2021, the Louisiana Legislature expanded parole eligibility for Louisiana inmates and expanded the ways in which they can earn good time credit against their sentence while incarcerated.

Act 5 of the 2021 Regular Session amended Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:828 to add subsections (E) and (F), which allow for incarcerated individuals who earn a bachelor’s degree from a “regionally accredited” and “department-approved educational institution” to earn 90 days credit toward their good time parole supervision date. Subsection (F) allows incarcerated inmates who earn a master’s degree to earn an additional 90 days. Total, if an incarcerated person obtains both his bachelor’s and master’s degree, his parole eligibility date can be moved forward 6 months under this change in the law.

Act 122 alters the restrictions on parole eligibility in Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:574.4. This Act first removes the parole eligibility prohibition for individuals convicted of armed robbery (in violation of La. R.S. 14:64). It further opens up parole eligibility for those serving lengthy sentences after they have served 15 years in actual custody, if all of the following other conditions are met:

(i) The person was not eligible for parole consideration at an earlier date.

(ii) The person was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence after being convicted of a third or subsequent felony offense under R.S. 15:529.1 for the instant offense.

The Act then restricts the above by limiting its application to any offense that does not fall into one of the following categories:

(i) The instant conviction is a crime of violence under R.S. 14:2(B).

(ii) The instant conviction or any prior conviction, whether or not that prior convictions was used in the habitual offender conviction under R.S. 15:529.1, is both a crime of violence under R.S. 14:2(B) and a sex offense under R.S. 15:541.

(iii) The person would still qualify for a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence as a third or subsequent offense under R.S. 15:529.1, as it was amended by Act Nos. 257 and 282 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature.

This amendment appears to be an attempt to capture those individuals who would have fallen into a loophole in the prior amendments that occurred in 2017 that made some sweeping changes to the parole eligibility statutes.

If you or someone you know would like to set up a consult regarding criminal charges, give us a call at (318) 459-9111.