New law cracks down on parole eligibility

LOUISIANA (KLFY) -- Multiple Louisiana crime laws came into effect on Aug. 1 as part of Governor Jeff Landry's work to control crime in the state.

Last week, News 10 spoke with 16th Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhe about the laws making it more difficult for inmates to get parole.

Duhe said he agrees with the new laws, as they prevent repeat offenders from getting out and continuing their pattern of crime. One of those is House Bill 9 which cracks down on parole eligibility.

"Coming back on the third or fourth felony conviction. I'm all about, hey, you've lost all that good stuff. You just need to go to prison for whatever time so we can protect the public," Duhe said.

HB 9 restricts parole eligibility, so it makes parole harder to get.

Duhe believes the law will deter criminals from committing crimes. The law will only affect criminals who commit crimes after Aug. 1, 2024.

"Someone who was sentenced back at that time, if they were sentenced under this current law, it could have been a different situation," Duhe said.

The possibility of parole is still there, but the parole board must now consider more circumstances than before.

"There's been some consideration for those specific cases to kind of do something that would give them some parole eligibility where the parole board can look at their background, how they behaved in jail, and then make a decision about whether they should be entitled to parole or not," Duhe said.

Duhe said the work of Gov. Landry and the legislation, as a whole, are taking the necessary steps in lowering the state crime rate with the new policies in place as the parole law and others aimed at crime are beginning to take effect.

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