Due to a snaffu by TDC, incorrect information was entered into the computer which caused my husband's file to be kicked back to IPO. :pissed: The errors have been corrected, and his file went back to the Amarillo board today, but there it will sit until the Gov gets the new appointments made. I called to find out if he was on schedule :haha: but of course the person I needed to speak to was on the phone and so far hasn't returned my call via the message left on her voice mail. :sleepy:

So I was wondering if anyone may have read/heard whether or not the Gov was on schedule to have this done by Feb 1st. I won't be holding my breath that he is. :ham:

I Dont Know Northstar But Prayers Are With You .

Votes are still going to take place even if the new appointees have not been named. As of a little while ago, that information still had not been released, but as one person in a position to know stated "It isn't 5PM yet and you know how they are about end of the day teletypes." I was also advised elsewhere that all of the current members were told to plan on coming in on Monday if there were no announcements today or over the weekend.

I know that Board personnel have been planning on an announcement very soon because of comments about the training that is slated to begin in early February.

So, yes, terms all technically expire at the end of today, but keep in mind that we have several Board members that have been Lame Ducks since February 01 of last year but continue to occupy the office pending the appointment of a replacement.

Does this mean that whoever is up for parole review will be voted on by a totally different group of people than the group of people who have originally been on the various regional boards? I am totally in the dark--haven't been following this at all. Please explain.

annieforj, Tomorrow is supposed to be the first day of the Board reorganization that was forced down the throats of the BPP by the Legislature. Until now, we have had an 18-member Board that had members serving 6 year terms, with 6 terms expiring every two years. Sometimes members were re-appointed and other times those spots were filled by a new appointee.

With the change to 7 Board members and 11 commissioners, the Board terms would be effective on 02/01/2004. Commissioner jobs were initially expected to be filled largely by current Board members because of the legislation specifying the current members were to be given preference.

Bottom line is that there may be some change in who votes a case but there is not expected to be a major shakeup in who the persons are that make those decisions. And, any change is no different than if there was a regular change in appointees. There are still Board members who had terms that expired in February. There are also a couple of vacancies that have existed for a few months and those panels have been getting votes from members of other panels.

I guess it's good news if everyone is supposed to report Monday. I just know the woman in Amarillo said it would be sitting on her desk until those people were in place. I realize they don't tell us everything, and probably at that time didn't even know themselves. So I'll be calling Monday to find out what they tell me then. Thanks CenTex.

North Star, the only cases that I have been told were on hold were SB45 cases (full panel votes) that had not entered the voting process. Other votes were continuing as normal. The other anomoly up in Amarillo is that the Abilene office is going to be combined with Amarillo, which may cause some delays on votes that would have started in Abilene...that conversion has not been calendared yet though...

The snaffu was what caused them to think it was a SB45 case, but the correction would change it back to a normal vote. So I will definitely be calling on Monday to make sure that's not what they are still thinking. Thanks for the tip on combining the two offices.

:fb:

Just wanted to say that I called the Amarillo board office this morning, and they confirmed that for now, the only cases being delayed are SB45 cases, and his was given back to Lucinda Simmons as lead voter! Yay! :yes: I just hope it is as good news as we have heard in having her as the lead voter. Thanks to all of you who offered your prayers before. Don't stop now!

:)

As a quick update, look for an announcement probably within the next day or so. There are a couple of unexpected developments, but from what I have heard, no earthshaking changes. And, as much as I had the element of suspense, what I have is not for public consumption at the moment...so carry on with the pins and needles ;)

It would have been far kinder to simply not say anything at all instead of toying with our emotions and instilling more nervous fear into those of us who are waiting to have our loved ones back home with us. I can only guess you must have never been on this side of the spectrum before.

:(

First and foremost, the simple fact remains that the cases are going to be voted by whoever is in the respective panels...there are still going to be 18 decision-makers systemwide. Secondly, it was a given that much of the composition of those 18 was going to remain the same based upon legislative intent that preference be given on Commissioner positions to current Board members that wanted to remain as a decision-maker.

From what I have gathered, there are a couple of current position-holders that did not seek either re-appointment or a Commissioner position, and there were two vacancies that already existed (positions vacated by Scott in Huntsville and Bush in Angleton). It was also already known that the Abilene office was going to be closed and those staff moved to Amarillo.

Of what I have been told in terms of the changes, I do not anticipate significant differences in voting trends systemwide because the couple of positions that shift to other offices are mostly replacing decision-makers of similar voting patterns.

From the couple of PM's I had, several seemed to understand the "winky" icon to mean don't fret the reorganization even if the release has been a few days late. Once the release is put out, then I will be more at liberty to discuss the impact on each panel.

Arghhh... can this be more complicate to unterstand or what? Please someone make it easy for me: When the parole is in Huntsville, don't I write to the 3 persons listed on the parole page (Collins/Owens/Speier) ??? Right ? And the only question I had before I read this was what to do with Owens who expired 2003 according to the internet-page of pardon and paroles. But now my eyes are rolling and I don't get what this thread means for me... Hej, with PTO it is difficult, without PTO it would be impossible...smile. So I might get an anwer here. Love from Karlina

Former TDCJ employee moves into role of Parole Board officer

Rissie Owens seems to be constantly on the move. In fact, during 20
years of marriage, she moved her household 17 times as her husband, Ed,
now deputy executive director of TDCJ, was transferred from place to
place on his way up through the security ranks of the state prison system.

And even though the Owens’ are now settled in Huntsville, Rissie keeps
a suitcase packed for weekly trips to Austin where she serves as the
presiding officer for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

“On Highway 290,” Owens joked when asked where she spends most of her
time.

Owens, 44, was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to chair the 18-member
Parole Board in September after serving six years as a Board member in
Huntsville. She usually spends at least two days in Austin each week to
take care of business there before returning home to vote on parole
cases before the three-member panel she supervises at the Huntsville
office, one of seven TBPP offices around the state.
Rissie Owens, Chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole speaks with
Parole Board Administrator Keith Hottle.
Photo By Jene RobbinsIn February, however, the 18-member Board will be
trimmed to seven members appointed by the governor with the presiding
officer taking on a managerial role, including the hiring of 11
commissioners who will be regular state employees responsible for interviewing
prisoners up for parole consideration.
“Today, the job of the presiding officer is one of coordinating the
activities of the Board,” Owens said. “Under the House bill, it’s more of
an administrative position. The presiding officer is actually
responsible for hiring all of the parole commissioners and the staff.”

The legislation calls for the terms of all current Board members to
expire in January 2004. The seven members appointed by the governor will
serve staggered terms ranging from two to six years.

“I think it’s a great management tool the bill provides for a smaller
body to manage,” said Owens, adding that she is interested in being
appointed as one of the seven members who will shape Board policy.

“I am very appreciative to Governor Perry for having the confidence in
my abilities to provide leadership and direction to the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles,” she said. “As Board chair, I will continue to
refine our processes to maintain the public’s safety. I also think it is
important to strengthen collaborative relationships with other criminal
justice entities. I have some big shoes to fill and some high
expectations to address, but this is what I have been preparing for. It’s been
very interesting. It’s a challenge, but I look forward to the challenges
and welcome them.”

Born and raised in Bryan, Owens attended Sam Houston State University
in Huntsville with thoughts of becoming a teacher like her mother. But
she changed her major to criminal justice late in her freshman year.

“Criminal justice was kind of new in the early 80s,” she said. “I began
to hear about the criminal justice program at Sam Houston, and at the
time I was there, there were a lot of jobs in criminal justice.”

Owens, who later earned a master’s degree in psychology from the
University of Houston at Clear Lake, met her husband at SHSU, marrying him in
1983. At the time, she was working as a case manager with Brazos County
MHMR in Bryan while Ed worked at the Pack Unit near Navasota. But when
he was transferred to the Ferguson Unit near Midway in 1984, she went
to work for TDCJ as a mental health coordinator in the Social Services
Department. She went on to work as a grievance coordinator and field
coordinator before following her husband to Galveston upon his promotion
to senior warden at TDCJ’s hospital unit.

Because policy prohibited her from working directly under her husband,
Owens left TDCJ to work as a probation officer for Galveston County
Adult Probation. Two years later, her husband was transferred back to
Navasota. But for once, she didn’t pack up the household and make another
move.

“I didn’t move to Navasota because I was in the process of trying to
complete my graduate degree,” she said. “At the end of the semester I was
planning to move and then he was transferred to Amarillo. So then I
moved to Amarillo.”

During the two years her husband served as senior warden of the
Clements Unit there, Owens worked as a drug prevention specialist for the
Amarillo Independent School District. Then with Ed’s promotion to regional
director in 1995, it was back to Huntsville where she worked as an
associate school psychologist with the local school district for two years
prior to her appointment to the Parole Board in September 1997.

Owens said changing jobs with each move hasn’t hampered her career.

“It really hasn’t,” she said. “I was very fortunate that because of my
work experience and/or my education I was able to secure employment,”
she said.

And while they share the same house with their 16-year-old son, Owens
said she and her husband work in different worlds.

“It’s really kind of easy to keep it separate,” she said about the
business of TBPP and that of TDCJ. “I do my job and it’s my job and he does
his job and it’s his job. I don’t try to tell him how to run the
criminal justice system and he doesn’t tell me how to run the Parole Board.
We just make it a point to never discuss the criminal justice system at
breakfast or dinner. And it works.”

STILL SEEMS LIKE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN MY MIND

When the parole is in Huntsville, don't I write to the 3 persons listed on the parole page (Collins/Owens/Speier) ??? Right ? And the only question I had before I read this was what to do with Owens who expired 2003 according to the internet-page of pardon and paroles.

You are correct that you would send your letters to the members in Huntsville on a Huntsville vote. However, Ms. Owens' term expiration changed when she was appointed to take over Gerald Garrett's unexpired term. Garrett had a term that was not due to have expired until 02/2007.

Speier was named on paper only to fill the spot in Huntsville, and has actually been officed in San Antonio, where he votes cases with Mr. Shaw and Mr. Burwell.

Collins will not be with the Board for much longer because of a nomination to a position with the US Marshall's service (I believe he has now been confirmed and will be leaving within a month). So, except for cases actually voted within the next couple of weeks, Collins will not be in Huntsville.

Ok, Ladies, you got me ALL confused now. To whom do I address my letters? I prefer to make them with a personal name.

Ms. Owens is there, I DO get this right ?
Speier - if he fills the spot on paper, can I address it to him? Who will get it ?
Collins- since my friend already has been interviewed 26. jan. maybe we will be in time ?

I want to mail my letters tomorrow, at least if I somehow can figure out who I send them to... How do other normal people figure this out, I wonder. Love from Karlina

Karlina,

There are multiple boards...Rissie is over ALL of them, but fills in to vote when needed in her area.

Which unit is he in?

You will find the people assigned to that unit on the BPP website:
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/bpp/brd_locations/brd_locations.html

If you want to address it to them personally, use the 3 names on the applicable board!

kath

Dear Trulykath.

THAT page is where I originally got the tree names from. :)

I just got all confused when I read the thread about all the changes that are happening :rolleyes:

I need to think :ha: .

Maybe I just write to the three people assigned to Wynne Unit, - as long as the Parole Homepage still got the names on they must be valid I think.... Talk to you later... Karlina