TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Parole Panel Budget Cuts Might Slow Process

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: June 6, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - A 20 percent cut to the budget for the state parole commission may result in a slowdown for people seeking clemency or restoration of civil rights, the chairwoman of the state Parole Commission said Thursday.

Commission Chairwoman Monica David said that the budget passed this year by the Legislature cut the agency's budget from $10.2 million to $8.1 million, which forced the agency to lay off 17 of its 131 employees. It will also leave seven vacant positions unfilled.

Nine of those empty jobs are people who would work on processing clemency applications. That means the road to getting freed from prison in the clemency process may get slower.

The clemency process also includes the restoration of voting and other civil rights for people who have been released from prison.

Investigating whether people are eligible for such rights restoration also takes time, and Florida has been criticized in the past for how long it takes.

Gov. Charlie Crist and other members of the board that oversees the clemency agency pushed last year to streamline the civil rights restoration process. He noted Thursday that it seems to be working with 90,000 applicants having had their cases processed in six months.

David said the commission will continue to "do our best" to process applications but there might be a "slight delay time."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT