My husband was just sentenced last week for his fourth DWI. He was on a five year probation for his third DWI and had 10 months left on his probation when he received his fourth DWI. He was considered a "model probationer" as the court probation liasion put it. He had done all of his probation absolutely perfectlly, until now of course. But, he still received three years in the penitentiary. He has not even been transferred yet but has been in county for 6 weeks. The judge opened up counseling and AA classes for him to do in prison.

My question is....does anyone think he could get out on his first parole, and what can I do to try and help.

He is going to Texas Dept Corrections....not sure exactlly where yet......how long does it take to get transferred??

The unit he goes to initially will be whichever transfer facility the county feeds into. We can probably make a good guess if we know what county he is housed in right now...that can also play a role in how long he will be in county.

On a three-year sentence, he will have to accumulate credits equal to nine months in order to be considered eligible for parole...with good time credits, that equates to roughly another four months that he would do at a minimum before the file would reasonably be expected to get to the Board. If he does not pull chain until January, then I would not expect his file to get to the Board much before June or July.

The problems that he runs into are that the judge can only make a request for programming...there is absolutely nothing in the order that would compel the agency to prioritize your husband. Add into teh equation that when he goes to the Board for a vote, they know that he has the history of failed supervision, with the revocation being for same/similar conduct (which is viewed somewhat differently than a revocation on purely technical violations) and that he is serving time for an offense with a higher recidivism rate than many other offenses.

On the upside, he is likely a low risk on the current scoring assessment and DWI was recently (August) classified downward to a low severity offense (it used to be a high severity ranking). That combined with the limitations created by the budget constraints slightly elevate any chance of a favorable vote.

Any materials gathered by the family for presentation to the Board absolutely should include a letter (on letterhead) from the probation officer. If they won't give you one, then pay for the copy of the transcript of the revocation proceedings.

Between now and when the Board votes the case, though, you need to figure out what explanations can be given to why he can't stay away from alcohol and why the Board should believe that he won't screw up while on parole supervision. The agency has been burned in the past by people on parole/mandatory supervision for DWI and that is why DWI cases are viewed as ticking timebombs where you just hope that the next arrest does not include a victim of intoxication assault or intox manslaughter.

He is in Harris County

As indicated in a PM response, Harris Co should feed to Garza Transfer Facility in Beeville (not sure if it is Garza East or West), but I have also heard of some recent HC cases feeding into Holliday in Huntsville.

Depending on how long it takes the District Clerk to get the "pen pack" to teh State Ready section in Huntsville, the 45-day clock may or may not have started ticking yet. Look for a transfer probably in mid-February, but that is a rough guess.

My friend is in on his 4th DWI and serving 3 years as well. He was in Harris County for about 3 months (but had stuff to do in Fort Bend County as well, which may have added to that time), then transferred to Holliday Unit in Huntsville. He was there about 2 weeks, and his 9 months of accumulated time came up and his parole review started while he was in diagnostics. The review took 5 months (way too long) and he was in 3 different units before they denied parole. He did make trusty status in that time, though, and is currently in Mineral Wells for the treatment program they have there. He has been given a serve-all to his PRD, which has been moved up to May 28th, so we are expecting (hoping!) that will be the end of it for us. Of course, I realize they can still deny him then, too. His next parole review will start in March.

Let me know if you need any help...I'll be happy to share what info I have with you!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by arlyn
[B]his parole review started while he was in diagnostics. arole. He has been given a serve-all to his PRD


OK....I am completely new to this......what is "diagnostics" and what does serve-all to his PRD mean???

Kelly,

Diagnostics is what they go through upon entering TDCJ. They do all kinds of tests and whatnot to determine the "best" place for them to be housed, what status they will enter as, etc. He said they did all kinds of things, from mental evaluations to IQ tests, etc. It also determines what kind of jobs they can hold when they get to their facility.

PRD is projected release date. This is the date that combines time served + good conduct time + work time. It used to be called a mandatory release date, but for offenses after a certain date (in 96 or 97 - I don't remember exactly) they do not have mandatory releases anymore. All releases are now subject to the the parole board's decision.

Hope that helps some. :)

Kelly,

One great source of info is:
www.tdcj.state.tx.us/publications/id/offender-handbook-2003.PDF
This explains all about intake procedures, line class status, custody levels, mail, money, parole, etc. It also covers some of the rules that they have to abide by, which I found very interesting.

CenTexLyn,
I see above where you referred to the scoring assessment/matrix. Do you think the score on this carries much weight when they make their decision on whether or not to grant parole?

My husband recieved 3yrs, violation of prob. 3 DWI's. Hasbeen inside since May 03. Brought back from Sanchez Unit to Wichita co. to face an additional charge they say will run concurrent with the 3 yrs. How soon can we expect to hear from parole? He says there is an 800 #to call? Is he at a stand still till he returns to Sanchez? HELP!

You can get his parole eligibility date and his projected release date from:
800-535-0283 or 936-295-6371
The 800 number is always busy. I don't know about the other questions, but I'm sure CTL will be back around to help shortly. You'll need his TDCJ number when you call.

Originally posted by annieforj
CenTexLyn,
I see above where you referred to the scoring assessment/matrix. Do you think the score on this carries much weight when they make their decision on whether or not to grant parole?

It all depends on the Board members that vote a particular case. In FY2002, scores of 7 (the best you can have) were approved at a rate of 55.84% while the original SRT studies suggested that such cases would likely be expected to be approved 75-100% of the time. The actual rates in such cases ranged between 40.58% and 74.51% (not counting Dan Lang who voted in favor of the one case with a 7 Guideline Matrix Score he reviewed before leaving the Board).

DWI is an offense that the scoring is not as much of a factor and the review is more based on the gut feel on whether someone finally "gets it" that they absolutely cannot ever drink again.

It is still a work in progress, but it is marginally better than the old 80-score system they used to use. It is very much a balancing act where every decision made has the potential to turn into an embarassment if the releasee screws up.

thanks

Tell him...once he lands in TDCJ, to put in an i60 request to move to mineral wells for the new DWI class. Have him i60 for this repeatedly, as the waiting list is already long. TDCJ indicated in their last PACT meeting, they will start funneling all DWI offenders thru this class in Mineral Wells. (at the Mineral Wells facility, they can wear street clothes you send in, and make all the collect calls you are willing to pay for).

With a 3 year sentence, averages are 18-25 months of actual time served. As Lyn indicated, they have decreased the severity (as the DWI population in TDCJ exploded)...and they may actually be letting some of them come home. (we did just under 11 months on a 2 year plea out of Harris county...we were in Garza west, then east, a short stint at Dominguez, then 5 months in Mineral Wells).

There was a point in time when DWI offenders just weren't making parole at all, but you have to keep in mind, it also depends on the offender, the history etc. It's not cut/dry. The thing that you HAVE to remember.....your husband was on probation for DWI, and got picked up for ANOTHER DWI. If he was still drinking, his probation was not quite as "perfect" as it should have been, and the Board of Pardons/Paroles are NOT going to overlook this.

There are MULTIPLE threads in the Texas forum. Grab some coffee and read all you can......there are plenty of people here to fill in any gaps you have!

welcome to PTO!!!

kath

Thank You so much for that info. I am going to tell my husband as soon as he calls.

Kelly,

TDCJ has a 45 day "duty to accept"...how long has he been in Harris County? (Skip was there just over a month)....This may give you an idea of when you could expect him to leave.

Once picked up, you will NOT hear from him via phone. DON"T PANIC...he's in transit. The 800 number status line is constantly busy...try 512-406-5200...get thru the automation and push "0" to get a live body to find out his TDCJ #. Once you find out where they move him, you can start writing immediately. They can have visits pretty quick, but cannot have CONTACT visits for 90 days (upon TDCJ receiving him). He will not get phone calls from TDCJ (they get a 5 minute phone call every 90 days, but the actual occurence of these depends on the mood of the guards on duty). If he moves to Mineral Wells, he can make collect phone calls home...as many as you are willing to pay for.....

Visits....don't wear white...wear conservative clothing (jeans/tennis shoes/modest shirts-blouses)...nothing see thru or provacative. Take a zip lock or clear coin purse with up to $20 in change & your ID. Go early...(at Garza), and get in line. Make sure your ID matches the address and info he will be required to put on his visitation list.

You WILL get thru this...we will help you!!!

kath

Thanks, just got a letter ,they want him to plead toi a 5yr on a poss. charge. It would run concurrent. I don't know what to think or what tosat to him. Just lost.