California Prop 57: Parole Review, Credits, and Juvenile Transfer

Eligibility under California’s Proposition 57 comes in three distinct pieces: nonviolent parole review, expanded sentence credits, and juvenile transfer hearings. The parole review piece is the one most people are asking about. It covers anyone serving a state prison sentence for a felony that is not on California’s statutory list of violent felonies, once that person has finished the base term for their longest single count. Two groups are shut out entirely: people on death row and people serving life without the possibility of parole.

Who Qualifies for Nonviolent Parole Review

The California Constitution, as amended by Prop 57, makes anyone convicted of a nonviolent felony and sentenced to state prison eligible for parole consideration after serving the full term of their “primary offense.”¹

The primary offense is the longest single prison term the court imposed for any one count. Enhancements, consecutive terms on other counts, and alternative sentences do not count toward that number.¹ That distinction changes eligibility dates dramatically. A person sentenced to three years on the primary count, plus a five-year enhancement, plus a consecutive two-year term, reaches the nonviolent parole eligible date after three years rather than ten. CDCR calculates this date for every eligible person within 60 days of admission.²

People serving indeterminate sentences (life with the possibility of parole) for nonviolent offenses also qualify. They become eligible for a parole suitability hearing once they have served the full term of their primary offense, using the same calculation.³

What Counts as a Nonviolent Felony

Prop 57 defines “nonviolent” by exclusion. A felony is nonviolent unless it appears on the list of violent felonies in Penal Code section 667.5(c). That list runs to 24 categories.

The offenses on the violent list include:⁴

Murder, voluntary manslaughter, and attempted murder
Forcible rape, sodomy or oral copulation by force, lewd acts on a child, continuous sexual abuse of a child, sexual penetration by force, and rape in concert
Mayhem, kidnapping, robbery, and carjacking
Any felony in which the defendant inflicted great bodily injury or personally used a firearm (when charged and proven), plus certain weapons-of-mass-destruction offenses
Arson of an inhabited structure or arson causing great bodily injury, first-degree burglary with someone present, and gang-related extortion or witness intimidation
Any felony punishable by death or life in prison

Everything else is nonviolent for Prop 57 purposes. That is where the classification catches people off guard. Domestic battery, assault with a deadly weapon (absent a charged and proven great bodily injury enhancement), human trafficking, and certain drug offenses involving minors do not appear on the 667.5(c) list. People convicted of those offenses qualify for early parole review, regardless of how the crime sounds in ordinary language. Whether the specific conviction appears on the statute is what decides it.

Who Is Excluded

Only two groups are categorically ineligible for nonviolent parole review: people sentenced to death and people serving life without the possibility of parole.¹ Everyone else with a nonviolent conviction is in the pool, though a violent conviction anywhere in the case pulls the person out of it.

How the Review Actually Works

Being eligible is not the same as being released. For people serving determinate sentences, the entire Prop 57 review is a paper process. No in-person hearing takes place.²

The sequence:

At least 35 days before the nonviolent parole eligible date, CDCR refers the case to the Board of Parole Hearings, so long as the person is more than 180 days from their earliest possible release date.
The incarcerated person has 30 days from referral to submit written materials. Victims, victims’ families, and the district attorney are notified and get the same 30 days to submit statements.
A deputy commissioner first confirms the person actually qualifies.
If eligible, the deputy commissioner then decides whether release would pose an unreasonable risk of violence or significant criminal activity.

Approved releases are processed by CDCR within 60 days of the Board’s decision.² A denial means another referral one year later. The person has 30 days from being served a denial to request review by a different hearing officer, and that second review must be completed within 30 days.⁵

Who Qualifies for Expanded Sentence Credits

Prop 57 also gave CDCR broad authority to award credits that shorten prison time. Nearly every state prisoner can earn them. The only categorical exclusions, again, are people sentenced to death or serving life without parole.⁶ People serving three-strikes sentences for nonviolent crimes earn credits at the standard nonviolent rate.⁷

CDCR awards five categories of credit: Good Conduct Credit for following prison rules and performing assigned duties; Milestone Completion Credit for finishing rehabilitative or educational programs; Rehabilitative Achievement Credit for approved self-help activities and volunteer hours; Educational Merit Credit for a high school diploma or equivalency, a college degree, or the Offender Mentor Certification Program; and Extraordinary Conduct Credit of up to 12 months for a heroic act or exceptional help maintaining prison safety.⁶⁸

Good Conduct Credit rates, effective December 2021, depend on offense classification and housing:⁶

Nonviolent offenders in general population: 50% (one day of credit for every two days served)
Violent offenders in general population: 33.3% (one day for every three days served)
Nonviolent offenders in minimum custody or fire camps: 66.6% (two days for every three days served)
Violent offenders in fire camps: 50%

People who refuse work assignments or have serious disciplinary issues earn zero credit regardless of offense type.⁶

Juvenile Eligibility for Transfer to Adult Court

Prop 57 eliminated a prosecutor’s power to file a juvenile case directly in adult criminal court. Only a judge can now decide whether a juvenile is tried as an adult, and only after a formal transfer hearing.⁹

A prosecutor can request a transfer, but the judge must find by clear and convincing evidence that the juvenile is not amenable to rehabilitation within the juvenile court system. The court weighs the juvenile’s criminal sophistication, rehabilitation potential before juvenile court jurisdiction expires, delinquent history, prior rehabilitation efforts, and the gravity of the current offense.⁹ Transfer hearings apply to minors aged 16 or older for any felony, and to minors aged 14 or 15 for certain serious offenses listed in the statute.

1
Justia Law. California Constitution Article I – Declaration of Rights – Section 32
2
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Nonviolent Offender Parole Review Process for Determinately-Sentenced Inmates
3
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Prop 57 The Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 Frequently Asked Questions
4
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 667.5
5
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Determinately-Sentenced Nonviolent Parole Process Frequently Asked Questions
6
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In-Prison Credit-Earning Opportunities
7
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Frequently Asked Questions on Good Conduct Credits
8
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 15 3043.6 – Extraordinary Conduct Credit
9
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 707