Massachusetts Parole Board

Welcome to the Massachusetts Parole Board website!

The Massachusetts Parole Board is an agency within the Executive Office of Public Safety authorized to grant paroles, supervise the parolee, and make recommendations to the Governor in regard to pardons and commutations. Annually, the agency conducts over 10,000 face-to-face parole release hearings, supervises over 8,000 parolees, provides notice and assistance to thousands of victims and provides reentry services to nearly 700 state offenders leaving custody with no post release supervision.

The seven members of the Parole Board are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Executive Council. Members are appointed for five year terms or to fill the unexpired term of a prior member. Board members devote full time to their duties. The Governor designates one member of the Board as the Chairman, who acts as the executive and administrative head of the Board.

The Massachusetts Parole Board is the sole decisional authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for matters of parole granting and parole revocation.  The agency conducts parole release hearings with inmates committed to state and county penal institutions, where Parole Board members make a determination of whether to grant the inmate parole.  The following link provides summary statistics for 2012 paroling rates  . 

The Massachusetts Parole Board, as an integral component of the criminal justice system, promotes public safety through the responsible reintegration of offenders into the community through supervised conditional release, so that a successful transition from confinement to parole discharge provides a basis for continued responsible conduct.