After prison

A comuted sentence is not the same as a pardon, and therefore, could involve parole. In your case you could include parole or leave it out, whatever works for your story. If he is on parole, it will be in the state where he was convicted, not where he served the sentence. He will report to his parole officer on a regular basis, to be determined by his PO. He will have to keep his PO informed of where he is living and working and he will be restricted in where he can go and who he can associate with.
Some government forms ask if you were ever convicted of a felony - he would have to answer yes, the commutation is only a reduction of the sentence.

If he is not on parole, he could 'Drop off the radar' but he'd be restricted in the kinds of jobs he could apply for. Antything that required a background check would drag up his history.

If a cop ran a records check on him (assuming he was using his real name), the conviction would show up, but that is usually not done unless he was being arrested for something else. A traffic stop would result in a local warrant check, and possibly an NCIC check. Neither of these would reveal that he had served time.

I hope that covers everything.

jeseymour said:

If he does have to go through some sort of parole, what's involved with that? Weekly meetings? Can he do this in his home state rather than the state in which he was convicted and served his time? How do they transfer that sort of thing? Is it likely that he might just drop off the radar? Big case load?

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As RJK said, commuting his sentence doesn't make it go away. Most times, a person getting out of prison for 'good time' doesn't mean they've served all their time, only that they're being released early and go on parole.

He'll have to meet with his parole officer, fill out a bunch more paperwork, let his parole officer know where he lives/works, hangs out. He'll be told the conditions of his parole (usually no drinking, no convictions of new crimes, no hanging out in certain places such as casinos/bars, may even have restrictions on who he can associate with). He'll find out how often he'll have to check in and how much his parole supervision fees are going to be - and how he's to pay those along with the restitution/fines he may have from his conviction.

It is possible to have a parole transferred from one state to the other. It involves a lot of red tape and miracle granting, for the most part. Usually the state he wants to go to will have to agree to take on the supervision duties, the court that convicted him will have to agree to let the parole be transferred, and the state in which he was convicted will also have to agree to let him go to the other state. Usually, as I stated, this takes a minor miracle to allow it to happen.

Leaving the state, or even the area in which he is supposed to be, will require a travel permit. Most states have regulations regarding registration for felons coming into their area. In Nevada, it means you spend any time more than 48 hours in an area, you'll need to register with the local sheriffs department. A condition of the travel permit may be that they check in with the sheriffs department as soon as they arrive.

Drop off the radar? Only if he purposefully absconds. Which can be as simple as missing a meeting with his parole officer. Depending on the officer and the suspect. Basically, it's up to the parolee to make sure to follow the terms of his parole otherwise it's back to the big house for them. And depending on how they fail to follow their parole, it could involve new charges that will send them to prison for even longer.

AND, any contact with law enforcement should bring up the fact that they are on parole. A PPCN will most likely be done with the officer giving certain information to be sent to the state parole/probation office. If there are violations of the parole (such as a felony DUI guy being drunk) then they may decide to do a parole violation and have him taken into custody. Then his parole officer will have to come down and decide whether or not to release him from custody or ask for a violation hearing to be held. This PPCN is RARELY sent to the guy's actual probation officer - normally it's someone in the state office who looks at the conditions, what is going on at that time and then decides to hold or not hold. So it's possible a hold will be placed that the guy's actual parole officer may not have wanted.

What RJK fails to mention in discussing the 'records check' is that a CJIS (state) check usually automatically does an NCIC (federal) check as well. And there are times when a traffic stop WILL ask for a more indepth records check as well. Such as when the person is in a vehicle with a weapon. I've done it quite a few times under this situation. Also, if the person is on active parole/probation then that fact should come up as well with just a regular records check. As well as any possible cautions on the guy (such as a conviction for a violent felony or some other reason for the officer to be cautious of the person with whom they have contact).

Okay, this is probably a lot more information than you wanted but hopefully it helps. Be sure to ask followup questions for anything you may need for clarification or to create a more realistic situation for your character.

Rabe...

If he does have to go through some sort of parole, what's involved with that? Weekly meetings? Can he do this in his home state rather than the state in which he was convicted and served his time?


Some parolees are required to attend weekly (or even more frequent) 12-step meetings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. The group leader will sign a paper that the parolee brings with him, so that he can later turn this into his parole officer. I don't know what percentage of folks just have a friend sign the forms or how the PO checks to see if the signature is legitimate.

A monthly in-person meeting is standard between a parolee and his probation officer, but it can be more often. With a parolee viewed as compliant and low-risk, the PO might let them check in by phone and through the mail, filling out a form and sending it back once a month.

Also, a parolee with a job has to put up with unnannounced visits from his parole officer, so even if a boss is amenable to hiring an ex-con, that doesn't mean that his status will be kept a secret from his co-workers once the PO shows up.

You've really thrown a wrench in the works with the original conviction being overturned. His Federal friends should be able to argue that his escape attempts should be pardoned, since he never should have been incarcerated in the first place. It's your story, you can take it wherever you want.

jeseymour said:

Thanks for all the responses!

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PPCN = parole/probation contact notification.

And in the synopsis you posted for your story - the sentence wouldn't be commuted. It would be overturned.

Unfortunately, however, since he was in lawful custody at the time of the (multiple) escape attempts, he would have problems with that. Those sentences would be the ones that could have been commuted however.

As for 'friends' signing the paper. The PO should already know who are the court approved counselors in the various fields - should have already seen that signature thousands of times over. So a forgery should be detected, pretty easily.

And yes, a parolee agrees that he can/will be checked on at any time - without a warrant.

As for your synopsis, it really wouldn't be up to the state in a situation like that. But up to the PO. Who may be a decent person and decide to go ahead and let him go on a 'travel permit' with conditions to be with his dying wife.

Rabe...