Missouri's parole system governs the lives of some 52,000 people, more than twice the number held in the state's prisons. But its rules haven't been updated since 2017, and those who work inside the parole system say its processes are often confusing, complicated and broken.
"There is nothing that is healing for either party about this process," said Kim Beshear, a victim advocate of the Cole County prosecutor's office.
Beshear spent more than two decades working in the state's correctional system, including as a parole officer. Confusion about how the parole process works is widespread, she said — affecting both the victims of crimes and the people who commit them.
The parole system's rules have not been updated in 2017. Under an executive order signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in January, a special working group has been meeting to address the problems and suggest fixes. The group's members met for the first time on June 13.
Beshear and two other members of the working group joined Monday's St. Louis on the Air for a wide-ranging discussion about Missouri's parole system and their hopes to improve it.
Parole acts as a key gatekeeper in the state's criminal justice system. For most people sentenced to prison — even for violent crimes — parole eventually becomes part of their path as they reenter society. And at some point, they will be eligible to face a seven-member board appointed by the governor that will decide whether to keep them incarcerated or release them under supervision or other restrictions.
But a parole hearing is different from a trial. Instead of the full seven-member board, offenders often face a three-person hearing panel that determines their fate. The outcomes can be frustrating, even if they reflect a case of successful rehabilitation.
That was the experience of Courtney Everett. Even after he was deemed eligible for release, he was still forced to wait two years before he could leave prison.
"Two years is a prison sentence, and it leads to a kind of depression," said Everett, who now serves as the coordinator for St. Louis University's prison education program.
"The only thing that can happen to you between those dates is to make your situation worse. There's no classes, there's no programming. There's nothing that you could do to [expedite] the process. You've been told that you're set, you're ready to be released from prison, but you can't go."
Even when it does result in a person's release, the parole process puts multiple burdens on their shoulders. Often, the pressure is too great.
"When somebody faces revocation, then there's a whole slew of violations that come with it, and it might be something as simple as intervention fees," said Stacey Lannert, a public defender with the state's parole revocation team. "Why are we dealing with these smaller violations when we have something much larger that we need to deal with and talk about?"
Improving the parole system is the ultimate goal of the governor's working group. Along with Lannert, Courtney Everett and Kim Beshear, the group's members are heavily drawn from the state's corrections department and local law enforcement, including a circuit judge, two county sheriffs and the chairman of the state parole board, Tony Helfrecht.
During the first meeting of the working group last month, Helfrecht called the group's work a "once-in-a-decade opportunity to delve into the Missouri parole board's existing guidelines." He added that it offers the chance to "increase accountability for those decisions, with the goal of safeguarding public safety while promoting successful reintegration and reducing recidivism."
Lannert, the public defender, hopes that all Missourians recognize the importance of improving the parole system.
"People rarely think about it unless it affects their families, but it actually affects every resident of the state," she said. "Because the state is putting money into incarceration and into supervision, and nine times out of 10 that person is going to be returned to the community. What type of person would we like to see return to that community? Recidivism usually doesn't happen until the third or fifth year of supervision. It doesn't happen immediately. So that's showing that something isn't quite right. How can we change this from a punishment-based system — to recognizing the trauma involved and helping heal?"
To hear the full conversation about Missouri's parole system and efforts to improve it with Stacey Lannert, Kim Beshear and Courtney Everett, listen to "St. Louis on the Air" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
"St. Louis on the Air" brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The production intern is Darrious Varner. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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