Lawmakers hear support for bill to give parole board contracted legal counsel and training

Lawmakers heard testimony April 1 on H.559, a bill to modernize the parole board by adding an education requirement for members and funding a contracted attorney to advise the board.

Laurie Fisher, general counsel at the Department of Corrections, testified that the department “has no position adverse to the bill” and supports the proposed education requirement for board members. Fisher said Justice Reinvestment data show the system’s caseload has shifted: “there’s 700 folks approximately on parole, and in the low 1 hundreds on furlough,” a change she said increases the need for board members to be trained in criminogenic risk factors, release-plan components and rehabilitative work.

Mary Jane Ainsworth, director of the parole board, said she helped draft much of the bill and called it a modernization effort that would let the board secure “a contracted attorney to serve as needed,” improving access to legal advice and giving the board more ability to “speak more towards our budget.” Ainsworth told the panel the contract model is how the bill is written and that assistant attorneys general would continue to handle appeals in civil court when they arise.

Fisher, drawing on her prior service as an assistant attorney general, described the historical role of the attorney general’s office: providing statutory interpretation, training and support for appeals from parole board decisions. She told lawmakers that appeals from the board raise complex due-process questions “maybe 3 to 4 times a year,” and that trainings that turn into legal debates among counsel can be less effective. Fisher said recent changes to practice — including a shift away from AG representation of parole officers at hearings — have placed more responsibility on the board and underscore the need for targeted training and on‑demand legal advice.

Committee members asked about compensation for board members; the chair noted that the parole board chair’s statutory pay was set at $20,500 in 2006. Fiscal staff said they posted a fiscal note online and provided a rough inflation adjustment, noting the 2006 figure would equate to about $37,000 in 2026. Scott Moore of the fiscal office said his team will provide the committee with the fiscal detail and post the analysis for public review.

No formal motion or vote on H.559 occurred at the hearing. The committee scheduled additional meetings and invited fiscal and other staff to return with more detailed cost estimates and clarifications of the bill’s language. The panel adjourned after the scheduling items were discussed.