A top Oregon parole board official said Thursday the agency is reviewing seven inmates for early release due to their severe medical conditions and has asked corrections staff to evaluate another 60 inmates for possible release.
The board decided to consider the cases after receiving an estimated 1,000 requests from inmates seeking early release since the coronavirus emerged in Oregon, said Dylan Arthur, executive director of the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision.
Some of those requests were for the same inmates; Arthur estimated that about 500 inmates had sought early release due to medical conditions.
The parole board lacks resources to review the large volume of cases, so it initiated its own review of prisoners, he said. By law, the board may consider releasing inmates before the end of their sentences only if they fall under a limited set of circumstances: They must have a severe medical condition, including terminal illness, or be elderly and permanently incapacitated.
The first seven are severely ill. The other 60 are older than 60 and incapacitated.
Arthur said chronic conditions like heart disease or asthma alone won’t qualify someone for release.
Regardless of a person’s medical status, age or disability, prisoners serving mandatory minimum sentences under Oregon’s Measure 11 law are not eligible to get out early.
Arthur said the parole board will review each case and will consider what resources and support the person has if they were to get out.
Early releases by the parole board are rare. He said the process will include notifying victims if an offender is released ahead of schedule.
“The board takes this possible early release seriously and again it’s going to look at each individual case on its own merits and looking at not only the medical conditions but all of the other things associated with the case before they make a decision to release somebody back into the community,” he said.
-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
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