Lehman v. Board of Parole

Except as provided in ORS 137.635 [concerning repeat offenders], each inmate sentenced to the custody of the department for felonies committed on or after November 1, 1989, shall be eligible for a reduction in the term of incarceration for appropriate institutional behavior, as defined by rule of the Department of Corrections.

The petitioner challenged the Board of Parole's decision to deny adjusting his parole date based on earned time calculated by the Department of Corrections (DOC) under ORS 421.121. He argued the board was required to grant earned-time credit and adjust his parole release date accordingly and claimed it violated his due process rights. "Except as provided in ORS 137.635 [concerning repeat offenders], each inmate sentenced to the custody of the department for felonies committed on or after November 1, 1989, shall be eligible for a reduction in the term of incarceration for appropriate institutional behavior, as defined by rule of the Department of Corrections * * *." The Court found that the petitioner was not seeking immediate release but wanted an administrative adjustment of his parole release date to reflect earned time, allowing him to begin serving a consecutive sentence sooner. The Court reasoned that under those circumstances, DOC does not limit the board’s authority to “schedule” the petitioner’s release date. The Court found that the Board had erred in denying the adjustment as well as failed to provide any legal basis to constrain its authority to modify the release date. The Court reversed and remanded the case for reconsideration.