Parole Board develops new set of risk factors for ex-cons

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Men released from state prison are more likely than women to violate their parole by breaking the rules or committing another crime.

And women inmates, once paroled, are likely to be less violent than men released from prison.

The state Parole Board Monday adopted a new set of risk factors to be used in judging whether or not an inmate would succeed once released into society.

The risk factors will be considered in addition to the present guidelines used by the board in determining if an inmate should be freed to be supervised on the outside.

The risk factors include such things as age, employment history, prior convictions, history of drug or alcohol abuse, gang membership, educational programs and gender.

For instance, on the gender factor, a man receives one point where a woman does not get any points. The higher the points, the higher the risk.

Deputy Attorney General Michael Somps questioned whether this might result in suits that might claim discrimination against men in prison.

Parole Board Chairwoman Dora Salling of Reno said, "Men are higher risks than women."

James Austin, a national consultant hired to draft the risk factors, said other states have separate risk factors for men and women. A group of women in Michigan sued and won that they were a better parole risk then men, said Austin of the JFA Institute in Washington D.C.

Austin has been a long-time advisor to Nevada's penal system.

He said he did a recent sampling of paroles granted. He said "It is clear the board denies parole in high-risk cases." Half of the moderate and low risk inmates are released.

"Ideally, I would like to see a higher grant for low-risk candidates," he said.

Board member Yolanda Morales of Las Vegas said "Sometimes it's a coin toss between moderate- and low-risk" inmates. She said this additional risk assessment would help.

David Smith, management assistant for the board, said after the meeting that adding the risk assessment chart will help the parole commissioners decide how to release more people safely into the community.

Austin, hired with a $50,000 federal grant by the board, produced a study that shows Nevada is behind the national average on people on parole. The national average is 350 persons on parole per 100,000 compared to 304 in Nevada.

The study also showed Nevada has a better average in inmates who are released and who are not returned to prison. That national recidivism rate is 51 percent compared with 26 percent in Nevada.

The board also voted 4-3 to continue its year-long pilot program of not seeing every inmate face-to-face who is applying for parole.