Case Information
*1 Honorable 0. 3. S. P.llingeon
OQneral~gar
toxau Prison system
Huntwille, Texas
Dear Sir: 3pin~on MO. o-3972
ROI Should inuste Willlam liolcoatb be 8iv.n oredit fop the tima he spent ,out of the penitoatlary onthe gotlelulparo1e great.A hlmbyOov.rnor'a Proolaiution l&29768, Adied Deoombor 11, .
This Vi11 a&novleAge reoeipt of Jaur requmst for our opinion on the horeln8bovo oaptlonad question. We quote from your letter aa follov8s
"The above innto van uentonoed to 7 ear8 ln the penftentiary on Juno 22, 1935. on L p- toaber 15, 1936 ha was gmtbd a 90 Aay f'urlougb by @overnor All-A aml on Deoember 11, 1936 he , ~66 granted a General Parole.
*ollJanue~27,1g41hlaoenar8lParolavas revoked by Oovernor O'Uel anA he was mturn& to the penitentiary an mreh 6, 1941 am a Omnoral Parole violator.
"In aooorAance with a reoent ruling irout your department Condition@1 Pardon violators am not entitled to reesive credit for the tti served while out on conditional pardons. EovevercI thlu innate contenda he reoelved hlr Qeneral hrole
under the old porolo law, vhlah orsdited tilps out on parole or 0onAltional perdon 813 tirw BOXVOAS *2 Honorable 0. J. 3. Elllngeon, Page 2
MA it van before the constitutional amend-
lpept voided the lavr under whlah he waa re-
leased.
"In view of the above, I vould like to knov whether this Inmate should be given credit for the time he served while out on a Oeneral Parole."
The Texea statutory parole uyattna, embodied In Article
6203 OP Iknott’s Annotated Civil Statutes and Artides 959-%7 of Vernon's Annotated Code of Crimlnel Proaedure, wee ln exist- enoe when aald inmate we8 aentenoed on June 22, 1935.
Section 6 of Artlole 6203, aupra, provides who my be paroled under aalA Act. 3elA 3eotion 6 reeda er follourt
"Sec. 6. Bvery peruon aentanoed to en lndetermlnato sentence anA now oonfiped In the penltentlary, or heaeefter 8entenoeA thereto
on en InAeteminate sentenoe, vho haa never be- fore been lmprlwned in a State Penitentiary In this or any other state or nation, when he shall have uerved a period of time equal to the minimum sentenoe imposed upon him for the crime, or orlnw, of vhioh he va8 oonvloted, shall be deemed eligible for p&role under the provision of’ this Act. In addition, eve rmxt nov oonflned In the pen- itentiary on a 0 -+SiXEe wntenoe or vho 8hall hereafter be aentenoed thereto fb e &finite
term end who ha8 never before been lmpti
Lna State Penltentlory ln this or any o%Z.
state or nation, shall be deemed eligible for
e parole vhen he shall have served one-third
of the term. or tenu. for whlah he vaa sen- tenoed. But in neither of the foreuoinn oaeeu shall suah pereon be reooutmnd~ for rele.sae on tll he ahd.1 th term of thl A t P1-d he: "serv*rsuoi ddtuum perlid Ef t&a* .n '(Underseorlng ours)
Inasmuch aa the facts submitted by you do not Oontain 811 0f the detail8 of said inmate'e reoorA neoea8ax-y to render our opinion on the question presented by you, ve obtained hia record from the.Boerd of Perdone and Paroles.
Bonorable 0. J. 3. Elllngson, Page From cuah reoords, it appears that et the tlma he VM
granted 8 general parole on Deoember 11, 1936, meid inmate had not served as muah as one-thirA of his AeSlnlte term, or terms, OS ueven gears in tha penitentiary es rcqdred by 3eotLon 6, 8upr8~. Be vas, therefore, not eligible to reactive the bsnefits OS the statutory parole law,
It is, therefore, the opinion of this Aeparttssnt, under the faots stated, that the general parole grantbd said inmate vea not a statutory parole anA that his status at the present time must be. determined InAepsnAently of such parole statutes.
The statutory parole law, hovever, does not infrlngr or enoroeoh on the perdottltq power conferred upon the Qovernor by the Constitution. It la vell settled that the Qovernor ruy grrnt fz;;s under the pardoning powup oonSermed on him by the Constl-
20 R.C.L. 577; Rx parte Relcon (Tex. Crlm. App.) 209 3. w. rss: liovever, sinoe the sdoptlon of the oonstltutionU menA- atent on Bovember 3, 1936 (3ec. 11, Art. 4), which beoame effeotive on February 1, 19X’, the Governor CM eserolme the parAw paver only OR the vritten slg~d reaommenAation etad advice of the BoarA of Pardons and Paroles, or a majority thereof.
In its essential oharaoterlstics, a “parole,” given by the Oovernor under the pardoning power oonferred on him by the Conrtltutlon, oannot be AietlngulsheA from a “oondftlonal prrbon.” paoh constitutes the release of a oonvlat upon SixeA oonAltlons before the expiration of his term of imprisonment. Ex parte Nelson (Tex. Crlm. dpp.) 209 3. W. 1481 Ex parte Peterson (CaWi) 92 P. (2d) 89OJ State v. Murphy (Mo.) 133 8. W. (26) 398.
That the general parole granted in the itwtant case to the inmate, Ullllam Holooiub, la in the nature of a oondltlonal
don la apparent Si?om the wording of said general parole granted %” y the ttovernor’s Proelauation fo. 29768 0n~Deoember 11, 1936, from vhloh ve quote as follows:
“NOU, THBREiVlRE I JAXRi3 V. ALLRBD, @or-
ernor of the State OS #Texas, by virtue OS the authority vested in me under the Constltutlon anA lava of this State, upon the reoomendations hereinabove cited and for the ‘reasons herein set out MA now on rile in the office 0s the 3eoretary of State, do hereby grant.uuto the sAlA liILLIAH H0Jx0MB L
QmiERALPAROLE
Honorable 0. J. 3. Ellingson, Pegs 4
conditioned upon hls oonductlng hiaself In all t-8 in an exemplary msnwr; anA oomlltloned further thet hs is hereby paroled to fLr. E. B. Prlnoa. of Yaxehechle, Texas, to vhom he vi11 be held accountable for his eotions end to whom he shell report et such times and places es the eeid Mr. Prince shall rsqulre. If he Is gulltg at any tine of any mfsconduct or violation of the law, or for any other mason ths Oovernor nay desm sufflolent (lnoluding any fectn not knovn to ths Governor at ths
time of'thls olemsnoj), this gensral parole is subjeat to revocation at the Oovernor'a discretion, with or vlthout~ hearing, as the
Oovernor mey AeterPrine, anA the meld Willi-
Holcomb mey be, by order of ths Oovernor, re- turned to and oonflnsd in ths ~enltentiery until ths end of his sentsnoe. ,:
On Jan- 27, 1941, sald gensral parole van revoked by the Ooremor on ths grounds, as shovn thsrsln, thet meld ~psrolee had, Awing 1940, violetsd moms of ths oonditions unAsr .,' vhlah the general parole was granted. Bald rsvooatlon, bslng i: Proclemetion lo. 2274, provides, in pert, as follower ,"
"How, zwAEwR&, I, w. LEE O'lwmL, Qov- ernor of the State of Taxes, virtue of the authority vested ln ms under % e Constitution and laws of thl? State, upon the rscomsnAet.lcms hereinabove cited and for ths reasons herein set out axui now on file 5.n the 0S:'loe of the 3sarstery of State, do hsrsby
HEvoKE the meld Oenerel Parole Oranted ths said UILLIAX HOLCOHf3, under date of meember 11, 1936, by t Proclsmetlon lo. 29768,' aubjeot to the ri of the ffovernor to set aside this revocat P on et any tlms for any cause which the Oovernor may deem adequate. The prlaon euthorltles are hereby dirsoted to take him in oherge an&return him to the penitentiary to serve the rs=lnAsr of his sentence."
In the case of Argon vs. Stats, (Tex. Cr:n. App.) 8. W. (26) 108, decided In 1933, the Qppelhnt was given a era1 parole by the proolamatlon of 'ths @overnor on lcay 12, We quote from the opinion In said aese as follovst
765 Honorable 0. J. 8. lSlllagsoa, ?age 5
"InthepMseatappeal,nomll&mrdon van granteA,butwnlya parole aaryimg
with it certain oonAitlons, *a follovst 'How, therefore, I, R.S. Sterling l l l do
hereby grant unto the said A.O. Orbregon e
general parole cond~tloned upon his goad and levful bduvlor. It is prurvlded that he shall keep em.ployeA end bs of eotuel asslstuwe to his mother.'
“A gmnerel parole doer not possess the finality whlah is l ttaohsd to 8 paMon. A
parole Is a zwleese of a oonvfot iror *r&son- nnt, on speolSled oondltlons to be observed wee8 em olted la ths volks of Welds & Phns*s mntioaed above." (UnAersaorlag ours).
It appears, therefom, tbtTexn8 is inllnewlth the ml* pnvallaag ln most ju.riatuotlaas lut, an tb vlolatlal of tha oonditioa of a parole, as in the earn0 of the vlol&Na of 8 0an4iti0ninrparaOn,th0prlO0m0rls mnitt04t0 sOrvOth~ua- ~iredportlanofhls sanfawo,uwltho~slod dur~vltiahhe van out o per ole is not A-d l part of th e aeateaee servo& 3ee 20 R. 0. L. 579.
You are, thtlaasore, nspotltsully advlmA that it tha oplalon of this deparbment, u&e, the Saots stated brruin, thM the lnmnte, Williea Holao&, mhould net be given or-edit for the tim he wee outofthb penlteatlwy on the genemlpmole mmatloamd hersin.