§ 12-28-6 - Right to address parole board. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 12-28-6

   § 12-28-6  Right to address parole board.– (a) Prior to acting upon the petition or any continuance of the petition of aninmate at the adult correctional institutions or the women's reformatory, theparole board shall notify the victim, if he or she is identified and his or herresidence is known, of the criminal conduct for which the inmate has beenincarcerated and of the pendency of the proceedings before the board. Thevictim shall upon request be afforded the opportunity to address the boardregarding the impact of the crime upon the victim; provided, that the boardmay, in its discretion, permit the parent and/or legal guardian of a victim whois a minor at the time of the hearing to address the board on behalf of theminor.

   (b) Should the parole board be unable to locate the victim,the board shall seek the assistance of the local police department of the cityor town where the victim was last known to have resided. The police departmentshall make every effort to locate the victim and shall, no later than thirty(30) days from the date its assistance was sought, send a written report to theparole board detailing its efforts to locate the victim.

   (c) Whenever the parole board shall seek the assistance ofany police department in locating a victim, the board shall not act upon theinmate's petition until it has reviewed the written report from the assistingpolice department.

   (d) For the purposes of this section, "victim" is one who hassustained personal injury or loss of property directly attributable to thecriminal conduct for which the inmate has been incarcerated. In homicide cases,a member of the immediate family of the victim shall be afforded the rightcreated by this section.

   (e) The board shall also make a reasonable effort to notifythe victim of the crime committed by the prisoner, or, in homicide cases, thevictim's next of kin, and/or, in cases where the victim is a minor, thevictim's parent and/or legal guardian, not less than thirty (30) days prior tothe meeting, of his or her right to provide a victim impact statement to theboard.

   As used in this chapter, "victim impact statement" means astatement providing information about the financial, emotional, and physicaleffects of a crime on the victim and the victim's family, and specificinformation about the victim, the circumstances surrounding the crime, and themanner in which it was perpetrated.