46-23-202. Initial parole hearing -- conduct of hearing. Within the 2 months prior to a prisoner's official parole eligibility date or as soon after that date as possible, the department shall make the prisoner available for a hearing before a hearing panel. The hearing panel shall consider all available and pertinent information regarding the prisoner, including:
     (1) the circumstances of the offense;
     (2) the prisoner's previous social history and criminal record;
     (3) the prisoner's conduct, employment, and attitude in prison;
     (4) the reports of any physical and mental examinations that have been made; and
     (5) written or oral statements from any interested person or the interested person's legal representative, including written or oral statements from a victim regarding the effects of the crime on the victim. A victim's statement may also include but is not limited to the circumstances surrounding the crime, the manner in which the crime was committed, and the victim's opinion as to whether the prisoner should be paroled. The victim's statement may be kept confidential.

     History: En. Sec. 12, Ch. 153, L. 1955; Sec. 94-9832, R.C.M. 1947; redes. 95-3214 by Sec. 29, Ch. 513, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 86, Ch. 120, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 312, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 60, Ch. 184, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 340, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 580, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 95-3214(3); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 45, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 579, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 125, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 372, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 450, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 425, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 559, L. 2003.