There are two types of parole in the criminal justice system, discretionary and mandatory parole (Bohm & Haley, 2011). The parole board must hold an oral hearing before deciding whether a prisoner should be released from prison or transferred to open prison conditions (Murray, 2014). The parole board must look at several factors when granting parole. In discretionary parole, “parole boards have complete discretion to grant or deny parole” (Bohm & Haley, 2011, p. 450). In mandatory parole, the offender must serve a portion of their sentence before they are eligible for parole (Bohm & Haley, 2011). There are four important factors that the parole board must consider when granting parole. The parole board must examine the severity of the crime,
