Definitions
"Administrative Decision" means an action by the Board on an inmate/offender/parolee that is undertaken without the offender being present such as addition of special conditions for a parolee already in the community.
"Alpha" means the Billings based pre-release center housing male offenders.
"Annual/Biennial Review Cases" means offenders previously seen and heard by the Board whose cases are scheduled for an administrative progress review either yearly or biennially.
"Board" means the Board of Pardons and Parole as authorized in 2-15-2302 and 46-23-104, MCA.
"Butte Pre-Release Center" means the pre-release center in Butte housing both men and women offenders, abbreviation-BPRC.
"Cascade County Detention Center" means the regional prison in Great Falls, MT.
"Capital Offense" means an offense for which the District Court imposed the death penalty.
"Commutation" means the mitigation of a criminal punishment through the substitution of a lesser sentence for a greater one.
"Concurrent Sentence" means at least two terms are running at the same time for parole eligibility.
"Conditional Release" means the release to the community of an inmate under the auspices of the Department of Corrections and subject to their rules. This release is not parole release. These inmates will no longer remain eligible for parole consideration during their release. Should a Conditional Release inmate violate the conditions of his/her release and be designated to the MSP/MWP, they would then become eligible for parole when prison records advises the minimum time has been served on their sentence.
"Consecutive Sentence" means at least two terms are to be served one after the other. Note: If an inmate has appeared before the parole board for any action on one sentence and then is convicted of another crime, the sentence is generally consecutive. The Board may allow service of that term at any time, this is referred to as commencement of a consecutive term.
"Controlling Sentence" means the sentence(s) that, based on a District Court Judgment, requires the longest period of time served to parole eligibility.
"Crossroad Correctional Center" means the privately run prison in Shelby, MT, abbreviation-CCC.
"Dead Time" means the period of time from the date a parole violation warrant is issued to the date a violator is arrested on the warrant and the determination whether this time should be counted as time under the term. This also includes time served in another state for a crime committed on parole.
"Dawson County Correctional Facility" means the regional prison in Glendive, MT.
"Department" means the Department of Corrections as authorized in 2-15-230, MCA.
"Discharge Balance Suspended" means an offender has completed the incarceration portion of their sentence, however has a probationary term to follow.
"Elkhorn" means the Methamphetamine treatment program for female offenders in Boulder.
"Extended Review" means those offenders the Board has determined to be more appropriately reviewed over a longer period of time than annually/biennially.
"Flat Discharge" means an offender has complete his/her sentence or term and does not have a probation term to follow their incarceration.
"Gallatin County Pre-release Center" means the pre-release center in Bozeman house male offenders.
"Great Falls Transition Center" means the pre-release center in Great Falls housing both men and women offenders, abbreviation-GFTC.
"Hearing" means the personal appearance of an inmate before the Board for release consideration, Executive Clemency, or revocation.
"Hearing Officer" means the appointment of a Board Member, Board staff, or other paroling authority for purposes of conducting a hearing.
"Helena Pre-Release Center" means the center located in Helena, MT, abbreviation-HPRC.
"Initial appearance" means those offenders who have been certified by prison records to have served the minimum time necessary to be eligible for parole consideration on a term of imprisonment as directed by a District Court Judge.
"Inmate/Prisoner/Offender" means any person sentenced by a State District Court to a term of confinement in a State correctional institution or program.
"Intensive Challenge Program" means the "bootcamp" like program for women offender's at the Montana Women's Prison. It is from 3-6 months in duration, usually followed by an Aftercare program.
"ISP" means the Intensive Supervision Program, as administered by the Dept. of Correction including the use of electronic monitoring. This program is available in Missoula, Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell, Butte, and Bozeman.
"Liberty Interest" means the offender committed the crime prior to March 20, 1989.
"MASC" means the Missoula Assessment and Sanction Center, formerly the Missoula Regional Prison. This center will assess DOC commitments to determine appropriate placement, according to the DOC. It may also be used to house offenders as a sanction center.
"Missoula Correctional Services" means the pre-release center in Missoula housing both men and women offender, abbreviation-MCS.
"MSP" means the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, MT, the prison contains numerous housing units, usually designated, UA, UB, CU II, etc.
"MWP" means the Montana Women's Prison in Billings, MT.
"Nexxus" means the methamphetamine treatment program for male offenders in Lewistown, MT.
"Passages" means the Women's pre-release center in Billings, MT.
"Pardon" means a declaration of record that an individual is to be relieved of all legal consequences of a prior conviction.
"Parole" means the release of an inmate into the community prior to the completion of a sentence subject to the orders of the Board and the supervision of the Department.
"Parole Eligibility" means the earliest possible date a person may be released from confinement to parole supervision.
"Parole Violator at Large" means an offender released on parole who has allegedly violated the terms and conditions of their parole for which a warrant of arrest has been issued.
"Parole upon completion" means an offender must complete some form of programming, such as chemical dependency and would receive their parole when the Board receives confirmation of completion of the programming.
"Passed to Discharge" means an offender/inmate has been reviewed and his case has been continued until his/her term is completed.
"Probation" means the suspension or deferral of a prison or Department commitment by the District Court. The District Court retains jurisdiction and the offender is placed under community supervision subject to the conditions imposed by the court.
"Rescission" means an action of the Board that annuls or voids a prior release disposition.
"Request a return" means an offender is generally advised to complete some type of programming, such as chemical dependency, sex offender, CPR, pre-release, and then when he/she is done, the offender may request a return to the Board for parole consideration.
"Review" means the informal administrative process of considering the conduct and progress of an inmate/prisoner to determine if a reappearance or parole is appropriate.
"Revocation" means an action by the Board that officially removes a previously granted parole after a finding of guilty to violating the conditions of release.
"Rules" means the conditions, limitations, and restrictions upon which parole is subject.
"Sentence" means the penalty imposed by a particular District Court for a specific felony offense.
"Sentence Commencement" means to begin service of a consecutive sentence which was imposed after reception and for crimes committed in prison or while on parole, furlough, or supervised release without the granting of parole.
"Term" means the total period of time for which an inmate was ordered to serve in a State correctional institution or program.
'"Victim" means a person who suffers loss of property, bodily injury, or death as a result of: the commission of an offense; the good faith effort to prevent the commission of an offense; the good faith effort to apprehend a person reasonably suspected of committing an offense; the estate of the deceased or incapacitated victim or a member of the immediate family of a homicide victim; a governmental entity that suffers loss of property as a result of the commission of an offense in this state; or an insurer or surety with a right of subrogation to the extent it has reimbursed the victim of the offense for pecuniary loss. A victim does not include a person who is accountable for the crime arising from the same transaction.
"Waiver" means an offender will voluntarily put off either a parole board appearance or the final revocation hearing before the full Board. Waivers of appearance are usually only accepted once and must have Board staff approval for any subsequent waivers. An inmate may waive their parole board appearance for a maximum of 6 months..
