The Missouri Board of Probation and Parole is composed of seven members appointed by the Governor for terms of six years. No more than four members of the Board may be of the same political party. R.S.Mo. § 217.665. Although appointed by the Governor, the Board finds its home in the Missouri Department of Corrections. One of the members is designated as the Chairman and serves as the Director of the Division of Probation and Parole, one of the four divisions of the Department of Corrections. R.S.Mo. § 217.030.
The date of the initial parole hearing is actually scheduled shortly after the offender is incarcerated, even though the date may be well in the future. For example, an offender who was sentenced to five years will have his initial parole hearing shortly after reaching six-months of incarceration; an offender sentenced to 45 years or more will have the initial parole hearing at 156 months of incarceration. The parole hearing team is composed of three people – one member of the Board and two appointed hearing officers.
As overarching guidelines, parole in Missouri is ordered only for the best interest of society. It is not used as an award of clemency and is not considered a reduction of sentence or a pardon. According to R.S.Mo. § 217.690.1, “When in its opinion there is reasonable probability that an offender of a correctional center can be released without detriment to the community or to himself, the board may in its discretion release or parole such person except as otherwise prohibited by law.”
Unless a specific statute dictates otherwise, offenders who have been convicted of Class C or D offenses will be eligible for parole after serving 15% of their sentence. Those convicted of Class A or B offenses will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of their sentence. Those serving life sentences or those with sentences of 45 years or more, must serve a minimum of 15 years. For armed criminal action offenses, offenders must serve 3 years for first offense, 5 years for second, and 10 years for a third offense. A person convicted of a Dangerous Felony (R.S.Mo. 556.061) must serve at least 85% of the imposed sentence. Parole may not be ordered unless the offender has a high school diploma or GED or made an honest, good-faith effort to obtain one. R.S.Mo. § 217.690. Persons convicted of Murder, First Degree, Tampering with a Victim / Witness, certain drug trafficking offenses, and persistent sexual offenders are not eligible for parole.
As describe in 14 CSR 80-2.020, the State uses a “salient factor scale” and “time to be served matrix” in an attempt to have a uniform parole policy. The salient factor scale rates offenders on Conviction and Confinement Measures (e.g. conviction and incarcerations), Stability Measures (e.g., age at first offense, alcohol / drug abuse) and Performance and Behavior Measures (e.g. escape attempts, prior probation or parole revoked). The offender’s combined matrix score and original sentence is then located in the Matrix to determine the presumptive number of months to be served, thereby providing a presumptive release date. Parole may not be granted, despite this presumptive release calculation, if the release would depreciate the seriousness of the offense committed or when there does not appear to be a reasonable probability that the offender live and remain at liberty without violating the law.