ASSEMBLY PUBLIC SAFETY AND PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 6206
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JANUARY 5, 2026
The Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 6206.
As amended and reported by the committee, this bill revises the requirements and procedures related to parole.
Standard for Parole Eligibility
Under current law, an adult incarcerated person who is not eligible for administrative parole release is to be released on parole at the time of primary parole eligibility, unless information supplied in the hearing report indicates by a preponderance of the evidence that the person has failed to cooperate in their own rehabilitation or that there is a reasonable expectation the incarcerated person will violate the conditions of parole. This bill revises the standard for determining whether evidence indicates, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the person has failed to cooperate in their own rehabilitation, or that there is a substantial likelihood they will commit a crime if released on parole at that time. The bill also eliminates parole requirements for incarcerated juveniles.
The bill limits the use of parole revocation and reincarceration by changing the standards for making those determinations. To clarify these processes, the bill defines “probable cause hearing,” “revocation hearing,” and “technical parole violation.” The bill outlines the hearing process, the standards applied at each hearing, the sanctions and other consequences that may be imposed when a violation is sustained, and the consequences for a parolee’s failure to appear at a hearing. The bill provides that a person who is denied parole is to be released on the new parole eligibility date unless the parole board determines, by a preponderance of the evidence, that there is a substantial likelihood that the incarcerated person will commit a crime if released on parole.
Award of Compliance Credits
Currently, a parole term may be reduced by parole compliance credits, at a rate of one day for every six days of parole supervision completed. Under current law, parole compliance credits may not be awarded to an incarcerated person who is serving a term of supervision under the State’s No Early Release Act (NERA), or a term of parole supervision for life.
This bill provides for the award of compliance credits at a rate of one day for every two days of parole supervision completed. Under the bill, compliance credits may not be earned and are to be withheld: during a period of reincarceration for a sustained parole violation, during the period a parolee has absconded, or pending the outcome of a revocation hearing. Under the amended bill, an incarcerated person who is serving a term of supervision under NERA, or a term of parole supervision for life, is ineligible to receive compliance credits.
The bill also permits retroactive compliance credits to be awarded to an eligible parolee for the 12-month period preceding the bill’s effective date. All retroactive credits must be awarded within 12 months following the effective date. Any retroactive credits awarded may not exceed six months.
Revocation of Parole for Violations
The bill modifies the procedures for revocation of parole and reincarceration. The bill also expands the list of violations that do not lead to parole revocation. Specifically, the bill provides that revocation is not to be based solely on a parolee’s: use of any drug or alcohol; failure to pay any fine or other assessment; failure to refrain from operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license, provided that revocation may be based solely on the parolee’s operation of a vehicle without a valid license if the court, at the time of conviction, prohibited the parolee from doing so; or failure to waive extradition to the State of New Jersey from the jurisdiction in which the parolee is apprehended and detained for a violation of parole.
If a hearing officer finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that a parolee has committed a parole violation and that revocation and return to custody are desirable, the board panel may revoke parole and return the parolee to custody for a specified length of time.
If the board panel determines that no violation was committed for which revocation and return to custody is desirable, it may: direct that parole supervision be continued, with or without the imposition of additional conditions; direct the parolee to receive re-entry services as an alternative to reincarceration; or direct the rescission of certain compliance credits.
Issuance of Report by Department of Corrections
The bill also requires the Commissioner of Corrections to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature within one year of the bill’s effective date, detailing how the anticipated reduction in the incarcerated population resulting from the bill will reduce costs to the State. The report is required to include, but not be limited to:
a. the anticipated cost savings to the department as a result of the bill;
b. the anticipated savings during the 30-year period following implementation of the bill as a result of the anticipated reduction in population;
c. a detailed plan specifying how the department will reorganize the use of space in State correctional facilities to account for the anticipated reduction in the prison population, including the steps to be taken to reorganize space, and the prioritization and timeframe for implementing these steps; and
d. if the department deems it appropriate to close one or more correctional facilities, the prioritization of facility closures, and the timeframes and details for each closure.
Repeal of Law Concerning Violations by Certain Parolees
Finally, this bill repeals section 7 of P.L.1982, c.112 concerning the revocation of parole and violation of conditions of parole. Pursuant to this repealed section, if an incarcerated person is released under certain conditions, such as due to overcrowding of correctional facilities during a state of emergency, but violates the conditions of parole while released, the person is to serve a term of custody up to twice the period of time that parole was accelerated during the state of emergency.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amendments:
(1) remove the definition of “juvenile inmate”;
(2) modify the definition of “technical parole violation” to provide that the term does not include a conviction for a new crime committed by a parolee while on parole release;
(3) remove the provision of the bill allowing parolees serving a term under NERA to earn compliance credits;
(4) provide that parole revocation may be based solely on a parolee’s failure to refrain from operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license if, at the time of conviction, the court prohibited the parolee from doing so;
(5) provide that the decision on whether to issue a warrant for the arrest of a parolee is to be reviewed, rather than decided, and that it is to be reviewed within seven days of the issuance of the warrant, rather than within seven days of the date of the alleged violation;
(6) clarify that, if the board panel determines that no violation was committed by a parolee for which revocation and return to custody is desirable, the board panel may: direct that parole supervision be continued, with or without the imposition of additional conditions; direct the parolee to receive re-entry services as an alternative to reincarceration; or direct the rescission of certain compliance credits.
(7) remove the provision of the bill which provides that multiple violations arising from a single course of conduct or a single incident are not to be considered separate violations for the purposes of re-incarceration under the bill;
(8) provide that, in developing a schedule of incarceration terms for parole violators, the board is required to establish special provisions for the release of the parole violator to begin serving any new sentence, which emphasize the length of time remaining to be served on the prior sentence and the length of any new sentence;
(9) require the Commissioner of Corrections to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature within one year of the bill’s effective date detailing how reductions in the incarcerated population will result in savings to the State, and how the department will address the reduced populations in State correctional facilities;
(10) update the bill’s title to reflect the changes to the bill; and
(11) make technical changes to the bill.