07/28/2025
Board of Parole
Protecting the Public by Conducting Informed Hearings
Board Members
David Henderson, Chairperson
Appointed May 9, 2012
Dorothy L. Dillard (Sussex County)
Appointed June 6, 2018
Fleur McKendell (Kent County)
Appointed 2025
Haneef Salaam (City of Wilmington)
Appointed 2025
Zoe Plerhoples (New Castle County)
Appointed 2025
820 N. French Street
Carvel State Office Building, 4th Floor
Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone: (302) 577-5233
Fax: (302) 577-3501
Mission Statement
Our Mission is to protect the public by conducting informed hearings in order to make careful and equitable parole decisions and credible recommendations to the Courts and the Board of Pardons.
Our Goals are to use appropriate Department of Correction and community resources to facilitate the offenders successful transition from confinement to community and family reintegration and to return promptly to prison those offenders who demonstrate an unwillingness to abide by the law and/or pose a risk to the public.
Our Responsibilities To Delaware Citizens are to select individuals for parole who will succeed as law-abiding citizens and to keep incapacitated longer or return to prison quickly those offenders who are a danger to the community.
Our Responsibilities To Victims are to encourage views and information from crime victims and their families and to respond positively to requests for information and notification.
Our Responsibilities To Offenders are to use consistent criteria when considering release and to order appropriate supervision and parole conditions which support rehabilitative opportunities.
Our Responsibilities To the Criminal Justice System are to collaborate with all components of the system in support of a system which is fair, efficient and accountable.
Q: How Are The Members Of The Parole Board Chosen?
A: Under current law, the Board of Parole consists of a full-time Chairperson and 4 part-time Members, one from each county and one from the City of Wilmington. The Chairperson, who serves at the pleasure of the Governor, with Senate confirmation, must have experience in the area(s) of probation, parole, and/or other related areas of corrections. The requirement for the part-time membership is a demonstrated interest in correctional treatment or social welfare. Members serve four year terms upon appointment by the Governor and Senate confirmation and may be reappointed.
Q: How Does The Parole Board Get Its Authority?
A: Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4343, the Delaware Board of Parole (the Board) is the paroling authority for the State, with responsibilities for deciding parole release, parole revocation and parole supervision level and recommending commutation of sentence to the Board of Pardons. All offenders released upon merit or good behavior credits are considered on conditional release until the expiration of the maximum term(s) for which they are sentenced. All such offenders are subject to return before the Board of Parole as violators of parole or mandatory release and, pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4352, may be returned by the Board to prison to serve the remaining unexpired portion of the term under which they were released.
Q: What Can The Board Do?
A: The Board has authority:
• to issue warrants for the apprehension of parolees or conditional releasees;
• issue subpoenas requiring attendance of witnesses and production of documents at hearings;
• approve or modify conditions of parole, conditional release or pre-parole;
• >issue revocation orders returning parolees or condition releasees to prison to serve the balance of the prison sentence;
• issue rescission orders to prevent release on parole pre-parole inmates who have been guilty of institutional misconduct or illegal activity.
The Board meets in the prison approximately 36 times each year and must have a quorum of 3 members present to conduct hearings.
Q: How Does Parole Work?
A: An offender can be released without detriment to the community or to him/herself; and in the opinion of the Board, parole supervision would be in the best interest of society and an aid to rehabilitation of the offender as a law-abiding citizen. If parole is granted, the individual is released through a controlled release plan which combines the needed supervision level with appropriate treatment.
Q: How Is Parole Different From Probation?
A: The differences between Parole and Probation are:
• Parole is the release of an inmate to community supervision prior to the expiration of a prison sentence. Probation is a judges order suspending all or part of a prison sentence to allow supervision in the community instead of a prison. Only the Parole Board can grant or revoke a parole; only a judge can order or revoke a probation.
• Offenders eligible for parole consideration may apply 180 days prior to their eligibility date. To be released on parole, the offender must appear before the Board and receive favorable votes from the majority of members present. In the case of the most serious offenses, 4 favorable votes are required for release.
• Offenders denied parole with no rehearing will be released from prison upon reaching their good-time release date and will be placed under Conditional Release Supervision with the Bureau of Community Custody until the maximum expiration date of the sentence.
• Offenders on parole or conditional release are under the jurisdiction of the Board of Parole and may be returned by the Board to prison to serve the balance of their sentence if they fail to abide by the conditions of supervision.
• Offenders serving a Life sentence with parole eligibility who are denied parole with no rehearing will not be released into the community unless they receive a commutation of sentence from the Governor through a recommendation of the Board of Pardons.
Q: What Happened When An Offender Applies For Parole?
A: Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4347(a), an offender committed to the custody of the Department who will be eligible for parole within 180 days may apply for a parole hearing on forms supplied by the Board.
Upon receipt of such application, the Board shall notify the Bureau Chief of Adult Correction of the application and request verification of parole eligibility and, if eligible, 6 copies of a progress report containing a carefully evaluated parole plan with recommendations within 30 days.
Upon receipt of the report, the Board shall determine within 30 days if a parole hearing will be scheduled.
If the hearing is denied or if the hearing is held and parole denied the applicant and the Department shall be advised in writing by the Board of the earliest date, not sooner than 6 months for an applicant with a good-time release date of 3 years or less and not sooner than 1 year for an applicant with a good-time release date of more than 3 years, upon which the applicant shall be eligible to again apply for a parole hearing in accordance within this section.
Q: Who Is Eligible For Parole?
A: Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4346, the Board may release an offender on parole after one-third of the term imposed by the Court has been served, such term to be reduced by such merit and good behavior credits as have been earned, or one hundred and twenty (120) days, whichever is greater if, in the Board’s discretion, the Board is satisfied that reasonable probability exists that the offender can be released without detriment to the community or to him/her self; and, in the opinion of the Board, parole supervision would be in the best interest of society and an aid to rehabilitation of the offender as a law-abiding citizen.
However, the Board has no duty to consider any offender eligible for parole who has not made an application for parole.
Furthermore, the Board has no obligation to allow an offender eligible for parole to appear before it, even if the offender has applied for parole, and the Department has filed a report recommending parole (11 Del. C. §4347(e)).
Q: Are Victims Allowed To Testify Before The Parole Board?
A: Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §9416 (Victims’ Bill of Rights), the Board, in consideration of victim impact at parole hearing, has the responsibility to inform the victim in writing of:
1. the right of the victim to address the Board in writing or in person; and
2. the decision of the Board.
Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4347(k), the Board has the responsibility to notify the victim at least 30 days prior to a scheduled parole hearing for an inmate convicted of a felony offense.
Because the Attorney General has on file the names and addresses of the victims of the particular offender appearing before the Board of Parole, the Board of Parole may request victim information from the Attorney General or request that the Attorney General notify the victim in cases where this information is not on file in the Board of Parole.
At the time of notification, victims are provided with options for input prior to the hearing. Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4350(a), victims or their representatives shall have priority in making statements before the Board. The decision of the Board will be sent to the victim, unless the victim has not provided his/her address or has requested no notification. With respect to offenders sentenced for Murder, Manslaughter or Vehicular Homicide, the immediate family of the victim will be considered the victim.
Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4350(a), the Board has adopted the following rules for hearing oral statements or arguments by persons not connected with the Department of Correction when hearing applications for parole:
(These rules also apply to hearings for sentence modification and sentence commutation consideration):
1. Individuals wishing to offer presentations to the Board in support or in opposition to an offender’s application for parole must provide documentation of the reason for attending in advance of the hearing. The presentations in support must be relevant to the issue of rehabilitation. The Board has the right to deny access if it is felt that the individual’s request for a presentation does not meet the rehabilitation standard. This rule with respect to advance notice may be suspended upon the majority vote of the Board members present.
2. Any individual’s statement must not exceed 5 minutes, unless the Board agrees in advance to extend the presentation time. Groups are expected to identify a spokesperson.
3. The Board restricts the number of individuals attending hearings as follows: For the offender, 5 persons plus the offender’s attorney(s); in opposition, 5 persons plus representative(s) of the State. Employees of the Department of Correction are not included in this restriction. The Board can waive this requirement upon majority vote of the Board members present if written documentation of good cause for the presence of additional persons is presented to the Board at least 1 week before the hearing.
4. The Board reserves the right to deny admission or continued attendance to individuals who threaten or present a danger to attendees or participants or who disrupt the hearing.
Individuals wishing to present information to the Board should notify the office of the Board at least 1 week prior to the hearing to arrange to be heard or for submission of their information. The Board will accept written statements from any individual having an interest in any application.
Q: Are Parole Board Hearings Open To The Public?
A: The Board, in its discretion, holds close proceedings for the following reasons:
1. to protect ongoing law enforcement investigations, upon written request of the Attorney General or law enforcement agency;
2. to deliberate upon oral or written arguments received;
3. to provide opportunity for applicants to challenge confidential information which they believe is detrimental to their application; and
4. at the request of the victim or the immediate family of the victim.
With respect to (c), an applicant must be able to provide a factual basis for challenging confidential information before the Board would consider closing its proceedings for this purpose.
Q: How Can Sentences Be Reviewed For Modification Under Truth-in-sentencing?
A: Pursuant to 11 Del. C. §4217, with respect to sentences imposed under the Truth-In-Sentencing Act of 1989 (i.e., crimes committed June 30, 1990, or thereafter), the Department may file an application for sentence modification for “good cause shown which certifies that the release of the offender shall not constitute a substantial risk to the community or himself.”
Upon receipt of the Department’s application showing “good cause,” the Board will schedule and hold a hearing for the purpose of deciding the appropriate recommendation to the sentencing judge or to reject the application, if the Board determines that the offender constitutes a substantial risk to the community or determines that the application is not based on good cause.
No offender sentenced for a Title 11 violent felony shall be eligible until at least one-half of the sentence has been served; no offender serving a Title 11 Mandatory term will be eligible during the mandatory portion of the sentence.
Factors Considered by the Delaware Board of Parole
The Board, in reviewing cases for parole, considers whether a reasonable probability exists that the person can be released without detriment to the community or him/herself. The Board also assesses whether parole supervision would be in the best interest of society and an aid to the rehabilitation of the offender as a law-abiding citizen. Factors used in parole decision-making and in deciding recommendations to the Courts and the Board of Pardons for sentence modification or commutation include:
RISK: Prior criminal history; prior performance under supervision; indications of violent behavior while incarcerated and criminal history offense patterns that suggest the individual is displaying a chronic disregard for the safety of the community.
REHABILITATIVE EFFORTS: The extent to which the offender has participated in rehabilitative efforts to address the issues that lead to imprisonment (e.g., substance abuse addiction, violence-proneness, sexual deviancy); the extent to which the offender utilized his/her time to improve education, vocational skills or work habits.
OTHER: Input from prison counselors, the victim, treatment providers and other individuals or groups (including but not limited to the Attorney General, the offender’s attorney, victim/offender groups, police agencies, family members and the community); institutional conduct, including attitude towards correctional and treatment staff.
ADDITIONAL FACTORS INCLUDE:
• Time Served on Sentence
• Mental Health Evaluation
• Victim Restoration
• Release Plan (Documented Family/Community Support)
• Offense (i.e., What is Documented as Actual Crime?)
• Attitude with respect to Crime
