Our team is constantly developing and updating resources and guides to help people understand the parole process! Below are all the guides we have available.

Our dedicated legal team is here to help and will be available to respond to any resource or intake inquiries over the phone on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can contact our office at (510) 271-0310. We look forward to supporting you!

Parole Preparation Resource Guides

  • Glossary of Common Terms | Large Print
    Last updated: November 2023
    This glossary is intended to help a parole candidate understand the key terms used in California’s Board of Parole Hearings process.

    Entire Parole Packet | Large Print
    Last updated: May 2023
    This collection of resources is our comprehensive guide to understanding what to expect in a parole suitability hearing and how to best prepare.

    Overview of California’s Parole Process + How to Prepare for It | Large Print
    Last updated: May 2023
    This guide provides a general overview of the scope of a parole suitability hearing, different steps in the process and aspects of preparation.

    How to Work with Your Parole Attorney | Large Print
    Last updated: August 2024
    This guide offers tools for taking ownership over the parole hearing process and working effectively with an attorney. Because nearly 90% of parole candidates throughout the state are represented by attorneys who are appointed by the Board, this advice is primarily tailored to working with appointed attorneys.

    Parole Prep Questions | Large Print
    Last updated: May 2023
    This list of questions is intended to guide a parole candidate in telling their story of change. By the time of the parole suitability hearing, a parole candidate should be ready and able to answer each of these questions.

    What Happens on the Day of + During a Parole Hearing? | Large Print
    Last updated: Jan 2022
    This guide is intended to take some of the mystery out of what happens on the day of a parole suitability hearing. After reading this guide, a parole candidate should have a clear idea of what to expect before, during and after a hearing.

    What to Expect at a Virtual Parole Hearing | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2022
    Virtual hearings have been a feature of the California parole hearing process since the beginnings of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This guide is intended to help a parole candidate understand what to expect when conducting a hearing remotely.

    Tools for Emotional Regulation During a Parole Hearing | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2022
    Parole suitability hearings can be stressful, exhausting, and at times, traumatizing. This guide covers some tools a parole candidate can use to stay grounded, composed and clear-headed during a hearing.

    How to Prepare for a Comprehensive Risk Assessment | Large Print
    Last updated: May 2023
    This guide is intended to help a parole candidate familiarize themselves with the Comprehensive Risk Assessment (CRA or “psychological evaluation”) process and understand what they can do to prepare for it.

    How to Challenge a Comprehensive Risk Assessment | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2022
    This guide contains information on what a parole candidate can do if they and/or their attorney believes that there are factual errors, mischaracterizations, or omissions in their CRA.

    2021 Changes to the Comprehensive Risk Assessment Regulations | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2021
    On February 5, 2021, the Board of Parole Hearings adopted changes to the regulations governing when the Board is required to produce a new Comprehensive Risk Assessment. This guide covers those changes.

    What Happens After A Parole Grant | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2022
    This guide is intended to help answer the most common questions parole candidates and their loved ones have after a parole grant.

    Advocating for a Loved One During the En Banc Review Process | Large Print
    Last updated: April 2022
    After someone has received a parole grant, the decision still needs to be affirmed by the Board of Parole Hearings’ Decision Review Unit and the Governor before it’s finalized. En Banc review means that either the Decision Review Unit or the Governor has referred the decision back to the full Board of Parole Hearings for further consideration. En Banc hearings happen during the Board of Parole Hearings’ monthly Executive Board Meetings. are open the public, and give family and advocates an opportunity to provide comment in support of their loved one being released on parole.

    Annotated Case List | Large Print
    Last updated Jan 2022
    This Guide is intended to help identify important cases related to the parole hearing process. This guide is not intended as a replacement for legal research and is only a starting place to help you identify some of the cases that have clarified people’s rights in the parole hearing process.

  • How to Write a Letter of Support | Large Print
    Last updated: Jan 2022
    Letters of Support are submitted to the Board of Parole Hearings by loved ones and advocates to show the Board of Parole Hearings that a parole candidate has a strong support network that will help them successfully transition back to the community should they be granted parole.

    How to Write a Closing Statement | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2022
    This guide is intended to help a parole candidate plan their closing statement, which is an opportunity in the parole suitability hearing for a parole candidate to speak uninterrupted and unprompted.

    How to Write a Petition To Advance | Large Print
    Last updated: Feb 2023
    A Petition to Advance is a form that a parole candidate can file after a parole denial or stipulation to unsuitability. This guide includes instructions on what to include in a CRA, information on when to file one based on the denial length and the form (1045-A) necessary to use to make the request.

    How to Write a Decision Review Letter| Large Print
    Last updated: April 2022
    This guide is intended to help a parole candidate understand how they can ask the Board of Parole Hearings to reconsider a parole denial based on factual and legal errors that were relied upon in the decision.

    How to Write a Letter of Remorse | Large Print
    Last updated: June 2023
    This guide is intended to help a parole candidate understand what to focus on and avoid in a letter expressing remorse for their life crime. Please note that letters of remorse are not to be sent to victims but are rather a way of displaying insight and remorse to the Board of Parole Hearings.

    How to Write a Parole Plan
    Last updated: Jan 2022
    A parole plan is a detailed plan for a parole candidate’s life after release from prison.

    How to Write a Parole Plan If You Have an ICE Hold | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2022
    This guide is intended to help individuals with immigration detainers create parole plans to present to the Board of Parole Hearings during parole suitability hearings.

    Parole Plan Worksheet | Large Print
    Last updated: June 2023
    This Worksheet was created to provide an example of how a Parole Plan can be written and organized.

    California Transitional Housing List | Large Print
    Last updated: June 2023
    This guide provides a list of transitional housing options by county throughout the state of California.

    [TIP: To jump straight to the county you’d like to search, use the ‘find’ shortcut. Type CTRL + F for Windows or CMD + F for Mac on your keyboard.]

    How to Write a Relapse Prevention Plan | Large Print
    Last updated: June 2023
    A Relapse Prevention Plan is an outline of the coping skills and support network a parole candidate plans to rely upon in order to avoid negative behaviors. Relapse Prevention Plans are not simply for issues related to substance abuse and can address any negative thinking patterns and/or behavior that might be a concern for the Board of Parole Hearings.

    Relapse Prevention Plan Worksheet| Large Print
    Last updated: June 2023
    This Worksheet was created to provide an example of how a Relapse Prevention Plan can be written and organized.

    How to Write A Book Report & Suggested Book List | Large Print
    Last updated: October 2024
    Book reports are written reflections meant to help a parole candidate express the lessons they have learned from a particular piece of literature. Book reports can also help to fill gaps in the programming that is available to a parole applicant at their institution.

  • Overview of California's Compassionate Release Program | Large Print

    Last updated: August 2024

    This guide is intended to explain California's compassionate release program which allow a potential path for very ill people to be resentenced and release.

    Overview of California’s Medical Parole Process | Large Print
    Last updated: April 2022
    This guide is intended to explain California’s Medical Parole Process which allows some very ill people to parole to licensed Skilled Nursing Facilities in the community before their normal parole dates.

    How To Navigate Your Innocence Claim In a Parole Hearing | Large Print
    Last updated: March 2023
    This guide is intended to help a parole candidate who maintains innocence of their life crime understand how to meet the Board of Parole Hearing’s standards for suitability given that the central focus of a parole suitability hearing is remorse, accountability and insight related to the commitment offense.

    Franklin Proceeding FAQs | Large Print
    Last updated: May 2023
    A Franklin proceeding is an opportunity for a parole candidate to go to court in order to present mitigating evidence related to their youthfulness if they were under the age of 26 at the time of their commitment offense. This guide covers frequently asked questions regarding Franklin proceedings.

    CLFJ Community FAQ Sheet

    Last updated: August 2024

    Recent court rulings in the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation v. CDCR litigation is delaying release for certain people with indeterminate sentences whose Minimum Eligible Parole Dates were moved up with Prop 57 credits. Please read FAQ sheet for answers to frequently asked questions about this litigation.

    Reed FAQ and Habeas Guide | Large Print

    Last updated: September 2024

    People v. Reed is a case that limits who can be returned to prison for violations of parole conditions. This resource answers frequent questions about Reed and provides tips if Reed applies to you.

  • 2023 Legislative Session Important Bills

    2023 Legislative Session Highlights

    2022 Legislative Session Highlights

    2021 Legislative Session | Large Print
    Bills that passed during the 2021 Legislative Session.

    Criminal Justice Highlights from 2020 Legislative Session| Large Print
    Bills that passed during the 2020 Legislative Session.

    2024 In re Poole Fact Sheet | Large Print
    Update on our case aimed at improving the quality of legal representation for parole applicants appearing before the Board of Parole Hearings.

    2019 Notice to Johnson Class | Large Print
    Update on our class action lawsuit, Johnson v. Shaffer.

Guías de recursos para la preparación a la libertad condicional

Additional Resources

  • Parole Hearing Schedule
    Click to see the schedule of upcoming parole hearings at any California prison.

    Board of Parole Hearings’ Report of Significant Events (2022)
    Most recent BPH Report of Significant Events.

    CDCR Population Demographics Report (2019)
    CDCR’s most recent demographic data.

    CDCR Inmate Locator
    Click to access CDCR’s Inmate Locator, which includes hearing information.

  • Prison Law Office (PLO)
    Our Founder and Executive Director, Keith Wattley, began his legal career at the Prison Law Office, which litigates prison conditions. PLO provides free resources on topics ranging from filing an administrative appeal (602) to suing prison officials for money damages.

    Mount Tamalpais College
    Our Founder and Executive Director, Keith Wattley, is a former member of the Board of Directors — the first accredited independent liberal arts college specifically dedicated to serving incarcerated students.

    Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)
    Our Founder and Executive Director, Keith Wattley, is a former member of the Board of Directors for LSPC — a nonprofit that provides direct advocacy and legal representation for women incarcerated in California.

  • FindHelp.org (powered by Aunt Bertha)
    Find food assistance, help paying bills, and other free or reduced cost programs, including new programs for the COVID-19 pandemic.

To find and access a broad range of additional pro bono legal services across california, visit Lawhelpca.org