N.J. Admin. Code § 10A:71-3.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 10A:71-3.2 - Calculation of parole eligibility terms

(a) This section shall not apply to adult inmates sentenced pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:113-4 for a term of life imprisonment, N.J.S.A. 2A:164-17 for a fixed minimum and maximum term or 2C:1-1(b). The aggregation provisions of N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.1, et seq. shall apply to such inmates.

(b) Except as provided at N.J.A.C. 10A:71-3.3(j), this section shall not apply to young adult inmates.

(c) The parole eligibility terms for adult inmates shall be determined by the following:

1. Where a life term, with no mandatory-minimum term, has been imposed, the parole eligibility term shall, except as provided in (c)3 below, be 25 years.

2. Where a specific term, with no mandatory-minimum term, has been imposed, the parole eligibility term shall, except as provided in (c)3 below, be one-third of the specific term or 25 years, whichever is less.

3. Where a life term or a specific term with a judicial or statutory mandatory minimum term has been imposed, the parole eligibility term shall be the mandatory minimum term, provided that such minimum term is greater than otherwise required by subsection (c)1 or (c)2 above.

4. Where the inmate is serving a term and a concurrent or consecutive specific term, with no mandatory-minimum term, is subsequently imposed on or after June 21, 1994, the parole eligibility term on the subsequently imposed specific term shall be one-third of the balance of the specific term determined by reducing the specific term by credit awarded pursuant to 2C:44-5(b)(2).

5. Where the inmate is serving time due to a revocation of parole, the parole eligibility term shall be the term set by the appropriate Board panel upon revocation of parole pursuant to N.J.A.C. 10A:71-7.17.

6. Where the inmate has been required to serve an additional term due to institutional infractions, the parole eligibility term shall include any additional term of incarceration required to be served.

7. Where a specific term to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center has been imposed, the inmate shall be eligible for parole consideration only upon recommendation by the Special Classification Review Board pursuant to 2C:47-5 except that in no case shall an inmate committed to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center become eligible for parole prior to the expiration of any mandatory minimum term imposed.

8. Where the inmate has been denied parole and required to serve a future eligibility term pursuant to 10A:71-3.21, a new book eligibility date shall be established by adding the additional term to the current actual eligibility date and by including, in the case of an adult inmate, commutation credits based on the additional term only.

9. Where the inmate's actual eligibility date has passed at the time of the initial parole release hearing and the inmate has been denied parole and required to serve a future eligibility term pursuant to 10A:71-3.21, a new book date shall be established by adding the additional term to the actual eligibility date and by including, in the case of an adult inmate, commutation credit based on the additional term only.

10. If an inmate has been committed to the custody of the Department from the Intensive Supervision Program for any reason and if the inmate's parole eligibility date is the date the inmate is committed to the custody of the Department, the following provisions shall apply in the case of an inmate denied parole release:

i. A new book eligibility date shall be established by adding the additional term established pursuant to 10A:71-3.21 to the date the inmate is committed to the custody of the Department.

ii. In the case of an adult inmate, the new book date shall include commutation credits based on the additional term only.

iii. In the case of an adult inmate, only work and minimum credits earned from the date the inmate is committed to the custody of the Department shall be applied in the calculation of the actual eligibility date. In the case of a young adult inmate, program participation credits determined pursuant to 10A:71-3.3 shall be applied to reduce the primary eligibility date established pursuant to this section.

11. In the case of an inmate required to serve a future eligibility term pursuant to 10A:71-5.5 upon the rescission of a grant of parole, a new book eligibility date shall be established by adding the future eligibility term to the previously established parole date.

(d) When a consecutive term is imposed, the parole eligibility term derived from the consecutive term, less county jail credits, shall be added to the parole eligibility term derived from the original term, less county jail credits, to determine the aggregate parole eligibility term. Applicable credits pursuant to (g)2 and (g)3 below shall be deducted from the aggregate parole eligibility term unless said term is determined pursuant to (c)3 above.

(e) When a concurrent term(s) is imposed, the parole eligibility term from the original term, less county jail credits, shall be added to the date the original term began to determine the flat eligibility date on the original term. The parole eligibility term on the concurrent term(s), less county jail credits, shall be added to the date the concurrent term(s) began to determine the flat eligibility date on the concurrent sentence. The aggregate parole eligibility term shall be that period of time between:

1. The earlier of the two dates on which the terms began; and

2. The later of the two flat parole eligibility dates. Applicable credits pursuant to (g)2 and (g)3 below shall be deducted from the aggregate parole eligibility term unless said term is determined pursuant to (c)3 above.

(f) Where a specific term to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center has been imposed and the inmate is eligible for parole consideration pursuant to (c)7 above, the parole eligibility term, for the purposes of aggregation with any specific or life term, shall be set by the adult Board panel upon its acceptance of the recommendation by the Special Classification Review Board submitted pursuant to 2C:47-5(a).

(g) Credits shall reduce parole eligibility terms as follows:

1. County jail credits pursuant to R. 3:21-8 shall reduce any parole eligibility terms determined pursuant to (c) above.

2. Commutation credits applied pursuant to 30:4-140 and credits for diligent application to work and other assignments earned pursuant to 30:4-92 shall reduce any aggregate parole eligibility terms except those determined pursuant to (c)3 above.

3. When an aggregate parole eligibility term includes a parole eligibility term determined pursuant to (c)3, such aggregate term shall be reduced by credits pursuant to (g)2 provided, however, that such credits accrued shall only be awarded subsequent to the expiration of the eligibility term determined pursuant to (c)3 above as calculated from the date such parole eligibility term began.

4. Upon the expiration of a parole eligibility term determined pursuant to (c)3 above, commutation credits and credits for diligent application to work and other assignments accrued during the service of the parole eligibility term determined pursuant to (c)3 above shall not reduce an adjusted parole eligibility date established pursuant to 10A:71-3.4 or a future parole eligibility date established pursuant to 10A:71-3.21, 3.47, 7.17, 7.17A or 7.17B.

(h) Parole eligibility terms shall be restricted as follows:

1. No inmate committed for a specific term(s) of years at the State Prison or the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women shall become primarily eligible for parole until service of a full nine months of the aggregate term less any county jail credits, provided, however, that when the specific terms of years to the State Prison or the Correctional Institution for Women is less than 12 months this restriction shall not apply.

2. No aggregate parole eligibility term resulting from the aggregation of specific terms, which do not include a mandatory-minimum term(s), shall exceed 25 years.

3. No parole eligibility term resulting from a non-criminal violation(s) of parole conditions shall, after deductions for credits pursuant to (g)2 above, exceed 12 months.

(i) In the case of an adult inmate who is serving a sentence for an offense committed on or after August 19, 1997 and who has been denied parole and required to serve a future eligibility term pursuant to 10A:71-3.21, the new parole eligibility date shall not include reductions for commutation credits pursuant to 30:4-140 and credits for diligent application to work and other assignments earned pursuant to 30:4-92.

(j) Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.5 1(k), an inmate sentenced to imprisonment pursuant to paragraph (2), (3) or (4) of subsection (b) of 2C:11-3 (murder) shall not be eligible for parole.

(k) Pursuant to 2C:47-5(f), an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center for a crime whose circumstances conform to those enumerated in paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of 2C:11-3 (murder) shall not be eligible for parole.

(l) Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.5 1(e)1, an inmate sentenced for an offense specified in 2C:47-1 which was committed on or after December 1, 1998 shall become primarily eligible for parole as follows:

1. If the court finds that the inmate's conduct was not characterized by a pattern of repetitive, compulsive behavior or finds that the inmate is not amenable to sex offender treatment, or if after sentencing the Department of Corrections in its most recent examination determines that the inmate is not amenable to sex offender treatment, the inmate shall become primarily eligible for parole after having served any judicial or statutory mandatory minimum term or one-third of the sentence imposed where no mandatory minimum term has been imposed. Neither such terms shall be reduced by commutation time for good behavior pursuant to 30:4-140 or credits for diligent application to work and other institutional assignments pursuant to 30:4-92.

N.J. Admin. Code § 10A:71-3.2

Amended by R.1985 d.213, effective 5/6/1985.
See: 16 N.J.R. 3391(a), 17 N.J.R. 1096(a).
Section substantially amended.
Amended by R.1988 d.336, effective 7/18/1988.
See: 19 N.J.R. 1396(b), 20 N.J.R. 1716(b).
Added (g)4.
Administrative correction, effective 1/27/1989.
See: 21 N.J.R. 558(a).
Institutional name change.
Amended by R.1990 d.141, effective 3/5/1990.
See: 21 N.J.R. 3411(c), 22 N.J.R. 825(a).
Internal N.J.A.C. cites amended.
Amended by R.1990 d.257, effective 5/21/1990.
See: 22 N.J.R. 899(a), 22 N.J.R. 1609(a).
In (c)7: deleted text with requirement that future parole eligibility terms imposed upon the denial of parole commence upon the date of the initial parole release hearing in specified cases. Added (c)8.
Amended by R.1993 d.399, effective 8/16/1993.
See: 25 N.J.R. 1665(a), 25 N.J.R. 3826(a).
Amended by R.1995 d.109, effective 2/21/1995.
See: 26 N.J.R. 4150(a), 27 N.J.R. 686(b).
Amended by R.1997 d.168, effective 4/7/1997.
See: 28 N.J.R. 3870(a), 29 N.J.R. 1318(a).
In (c)5 and (g)4, inserted additional N.J.A.C. reference.
Amended by R.1998 d.144, effective 3/16/1998.
See: 29 N.J.R. 4243(a), 30 N.J.R. 1044(a).
In (g)4, substituted a reference to N.J.A.C. 10A:71-3.47 for a reference to N.J.A.C. 10A:71-3.46.
Amended by R.1998 d.391, effective 8/3/1998.
See: 30 N.J.R. 1176(a), 30 N.J.R. 2920(a).
Added (i) through ( l).
Amended by R.1999 d.189, effective 6/7/1999.
See: 31 N.J.R. 710(a), 31 N.J.R. 1490(a).
In (b), changed N.J.A.C. reference; in (c)7, deleted a former i; rewrote (f); and added (m).
Amended by R.1999 d.252, effective 8/2/1999.
See: 31 N.J.R. 1140(a), 31 N.J.R. 2218(a).
In (c)5 and (g)4, changed N.J.A.C. references.
Amended by R.2001 d.271, effective 8/6/2001.
See: 33 N.J.R. 1044(a), 33 N.J.R. 2672(a).
In (c)8, substituted "actual" for "book"; rewrote introductory paragraph in (c)10; in (c)10i and (c)10iii, substituted "the inmate is committed to the custody of the Department" for "of the inmate's return to confinement".
Amended by R.2010 d.274, effective 12/6/2010.
See: 42 N.J.R. 1296(a), 42 N.J.R. 2960(a).
Added (c)11; and in (j), substituted ", (3) or (4)" for "or (3)".

Amended by 53 N.J.R. 1383(b), effective 8/16/2021

Amended by 54 N.J.R. 1728(a), effective 9/6/2022