Corrections: parole and prerelease treatment

The law adds safeguards for people convicted of specified serious sexual offenses and expands the process for identifying people who may qualify for sexually violent predator commitment before release.

What the law does ​

• Requires people sentenced for specified serious sexual offenses or multiple-victim offenses to be at least 65 and to have served 25 continuous years before elderly-parole eligibility.
• Requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to recalculate affected elderly-parole dates and the Board of Parole Hearings to cancel hearings scheduled under the former 50-year-old/20-year standard, starting January 1, 2027.
• Requires the Board of Parole Hearings to review a licensed psychologist's sexual-dangerousness screening before considering parole for people serving indeterminate sentences for sexually violent offenses.
• Requires immediate referral to the State Department of State Hospitals when parole is granted to a person whose screening indicates they may qualify as a sexually violent predator, subject to a medical-incapacitation exception agreed to by both departments.
• Extends sexually violent predator evaluation referrals to people serving indeterminate sentences and authorizes faster referrals in specified short-timeline parole or release cases.
• Requires parole commissioners and deputy commissioners to receive training on sex-offender behavior, risks, and treatment considerations.
• Allows the Board of Parole Hearings to hold certain referred people beyond their release date for up to 90 days for a full evaluation when there is good cause.

Who it affects ​

• Incarcerated people seeking elderly parole after convictions under specified serious sex-offense and multiple-victim sentencing provisions.
• People serving indeterminate sentences for sexually violent offenses who are being considered for parole.
• Board of Parole Hearings commissioners and deputy commissioners.
• The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and State Department of State Hospitals personnel handling sexually violent predator screening and evaluations.

Context ​

The law preserves the existing standard that a sexually violent predator determination requires both a qualifying conviction and a diagnosed mental disorder creating a likelihood of sexually violent criminal behavior.