Governor Abigail Spanberger announced new appointments to the Virginia parole board Tuesday. The announcement comes as numerous reforms to the Commonwealth’s parole system could see the process change.
According to advocates, there are over 3000 incarcerated people eligible for parole in Virginia. The largest population in that group is geriatric parole, people in their 60s, and that group is growing.
Governor Abigail Spanberger announced the five individuals Tuesday morning who will help decide if they should be released. Among appointees is an advocate for Virginia Victims Fund; another is Director of Reentry Services at the Department of Juvenile Justice. Another is a pastor at Henrico County’s Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church.
When they begin their service, they’ll likely come in armed with new tools to more efficiently grant parole. A bill by Rockingham County Republican Del. Tony Wilt creates new guidelines to narrow the board’s focus.
“It sets a set of criteria, a scoring process," Wilt told a subcommittee last month. "The parole board and DOC would work together to formulate that scorecard if you would and the inmates would fall into various categories.”
Another effort, passed last year by Floyd County Republican Del. Wren Williams in recent years, is expected to make the process more transparent.
“Turned it into real public hearings, real public meetings, and giving people going through the process information about how they can be successful with it rather than being in the dark,” Williams told Radio IQ.
Shawn Weneta is with the Humanization Project, a group that works to humanize ppl impacted by the justice system; he said the collection of parole reforms, and new members, could bring massive change to Virginia’s parole system.
“I don’t want to say they’re going to let everyone out because there are people that aren’t there yet, ready to come home," Weneta said. "But we hope the people who have earned it, done the work, are getting fair consideration.”
