• Anyone who is serving a NYS-imposed sentence of community supervision and is being monitored by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS)
• People on life parole and those on parole for sex offenses may be impacted differently. Please see below for more details.

• Most people on parole will earn 30 days of time credit for every 30 days in the community. That means if a person on parole has no sustained violations for 30 days, they will have 30 days taken off their parole sentence. This could ultimately reduce a parole sentence by half.
• When the law takes effect, people on parole will be eligible to receive up to two years of retroactive time credits. For the purposes of this calculation, any time spent incarcerated on a violation or in “absconder status” will not be credited. Additionally, for anyone incarcerated on a violation when this provision takes effect, their time will not be calculated until they are released. 
• The earned time credit provision took effect March 1, 2022.
• People on life parole are not eligible to earn time credits.

• Instead of being automatically jailed for a technical violation, people accused of these violations can receive a notice of violation to appear in a community court.
• • Under the law technical violations are alleged conduct that doesn’t involve the commission of a crime or violation of certain special conditions if on parole for a sex offense. Some examples of technical violations are a missed curfew, missed office report, or a positive drug test.
• People accused of non-technical violations or those who are accused of absconding and did not appear for their notice of violation will receive a criminal court recognizance hearing within 24 hours of their arrest to determine whether they will stay incarcerated pending the outcome of the violation proceedings.
  • A non-technical violation is when a parole officer accuses a person of committing a new felony or new misdemeanor OR
  • Conduct by a person on parole for sex offense that violates a specific condition reasonably related to such offense.

• LIM established the right to counsel at every stage of the parole revocation process and raises the standard of proof at every stage of the violation process.
• People on parole now have a right to counsel at every stage of the parole revocation process.
• Anyone accused of a parole violation is automatically entitled to a preliminary hearing.
  • For detained individuals, preliminary hearings must take place within 5 days of when they are arrested on the parole warrant
  • For non-detained individuals, preliminary hearings must take place within 10 days of the individual’s release on recognizance or when the notice violation was issued.
• If sufficient proof is found at the preliminary hearing, the individual will proceed to a final hearing:
  • For detained individuals, the final hearing must take place within 30 days of when sufficient proof is found at a preliminary hearing. 
  • For non-detained individuals, hearings must be held within 45 days.
• LIM requires these hearings be conducted in the community rather than inside jails.

If you have questions or need legal guidance on your parole situation, call The Legal Aid Society’s Parole Revocation Defense Unit at 212-577-3500.

For more information about the new law and the Less Is More NY campaign, please visit their website.

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The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.