The Arizona parole board, officially the Board of Executive Clemency, is the five-member state body that recommends parole, pardons, commutations, and reprieves to the governor, and rules on parole and community supervision violations. The governor cannot grant clemency in a state felony case without the board’s recommendation first. One date shapes almost everything the board does: January 1, 1994. Traditional parole exists only for crimes committed before that day. For anything after, the board’s role narrows to commutations, pardons, and violation hearings.
Who Sits on the Board
Five full-time members, appointed by the governor to staggered five-year terms, run the board. Each must bring broad professional or educational qualifications and a demonstrated interest in corrections, and no more than two members can share the same professional discipline. The governor picks one member as chair for a two-year term and can replace the chair at any time.
New members complete a four-week training course covering the relevant statutes and decision-making workshops before they vote. The course is designed by the chair and run jointly by the board’s office and the Attorney General’s office. Three members form a quorum, though the chair can designate a two-member quorum; if a two-member panel splits and the chair is one of the two, the action fails.
The board meets at least monthly at the state prison and holds hearings Monday through Thursday at its Phoenix office on North Central Avenue. Alternate locations are posted on the board’s public calendar.
Why the 1994 Date Controls Everything
Arizona’s truth-in-sentencing law, enacted in 1993, abolished parole for anyone whose offense occurred on or after January 1, 1994. Before that cutoff, parole worked traditionally: serve enough of your sentence, appear before the board, and potentially leave early under supervision. After the cutoff, inmates serve their full sentence minus earned-release credits and then move directly to a period of community supervision managed by the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
The board still touches post-1994 cases, but only through commutation petitions, pardon recommendations, and violation hearings. It does not grant parole to anyone sentenced under the newer system. If the crime happened on or after January 1, 1994, parole is off the table.
Parole Eligibility for Pre-1994 Offenses
For pre-1994 offenders, the Department of Corrections sorts inmates into two parole eligibility classes. Class one requires following department rules and volunteering for or successfully participating in a work, educational, treatment, or training program. Class two requires adherence to department rules without the programming piece. Every prisoner starts in class one on the sentence begin date.
Earliest parole eligibility generally arrives after the prisoner serves half of the imposed sentence. Where the sentencing statute imposes a longer mandatory minimum, that minimum controls. The department certifies eligibility five months before the earliest eligibility date, and the prisoner must stay in an eligible classification from certification through release. A drop to a non-eligible class resets the clock by the number of days spent outside eligibility.
Once certified, the prisoner appears before the board or a hearing officer. If parole is granted, it continues until the board revokes it, grants an absolute discharge, or the person reaches the earned-release credit date. At that point parole ends automatically and the board’s authority over the person ends with it.
Commutations, Pardons, and Reprieves
The board holds exclusive power to recommend reprieves, commutations, and pardons for state felony offenses. The Arizona Constitution places the grant of clemency in the governor’s hands, but every application to the governor is forwarded to the board chair, and the board returns it with a recommendation.
Commutations
For a post-1994 sentence, the board can recommend commutation only after a hearing where the victim, county attorney, and sentencing judge have received notice and an opportunity to speak. The standard is high. The board must find by clear and convincing evidence that the sentence imposed is clearly excessive given the offense and the offender’s record, and that the offender will probably obey the law if released. Both prongs must be met.
Commutation hearings run in two phases. Phase I is open to the public but includes no outside testimony. If the board moves the case forward, a Phase II hearing follows within roughly 60 days, with fresh notifications to all required parties. Petitions can come from individuals, organizations, or the Department of Corrections itself, and a separate track exists for offenders whose sentencing court entered a special order allowing a direct petition.
Pardons
Pardon applications go directly to the board’s Phoenix office and are processed first-come, first-served. A complete package includes:
- The notarized application, original plus one copy, with the signature page notarized
- Two recent sets of fingerprints
- The presentence report and sentencing documents for the conviction to be pardoned
- Proof that all court fees and restitution have been paid
- Copies of any absolute discharge, restoration of civil rights, or set-aside conviction orders already obtained
- At least three letters of support, with no more than one from a blood or marriage relative
At least ten days before the board acts, the applicant must serve written notice on the county attorney in the county of conviction and file proof of service by affidavit. Unless the governor waives it, notice must also be published for thirty days in a newspaper in that county. Incomplete applications are not processed.
Violation Hearings and Revocation
When someone on community supervision or parole breaks the terms of release, the Department of Corrections files a petition with the board. The board then chooses among three responses. Electronic monitoring is available when the person has not committed a new criminal offense and keeps them in the community under tighter surveillance. Additional conditions can be layered on without a return to prison. Revocation sends the person back to serve the remainder of the supervision or parole term.
A hearing officer conducts probable cause hearings, and the board itself holds revocation hearings. In the board’s most recent annual report, the hearing officer conducted 631 probable cause hearings and the board held 1,272 revocation hearings.
Arizona does not guarantee an attorney at every parole or revocation hearing. Under Gagnon v. Scarpelli, the right to counsel at revocation proceedings is decided case by case, with counsel generally provided where disputed facts, complex evidence, or substantial mitigation make it appropriate. You can request appointed counsel, but the hearing body decides. Nothing prevents you from hiring your own attorney.
Victim Notification and Participation
Victim involvement is built into nearly every stage. Every clemency application forwarded to the governor must include documentation that the victim or the victim’s family was notified. For commutation hearings, board staff handle notifications to victims, the county attorney, and the sentencing judge before a hearing is scheduled. Victims and their families can attend both Phase I and Phase II hearings, though Phase I includes no public testimony.
The notice requirement is a legal threshold, not a courtesy. The commutation statute conditions the board’s authority to recommend a reduced sentence on the victim, county attorney, and presiding judge having been given notice and an opportunity to be heard. A recommendation issued without proper notice would be legally vulnerable.
Federal Convictions Go Elsewhere
The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency handles only state felony convictions. The President cannot pardon a state offense, and the board cannot touch a federal one. Presidential clemency covers federal offenses, including those from U.S. District Courts, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and military courts-martial. A federal conviction from Arizona goes through the U.S. Department of Justice, not the state board. The federal system also abolished parole in the 1980s through the Sentencing Reform Act, replacing it with supervised release, so the two systems run on separate tracks.