On October 2, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the state’s parole board must follow Nevada's open meeting law. After the ruling, the Nevada Parole Board canceled all hearings, leading the Nevada Supreme Court to issue a stay on their own ruling at the end of the month. The stay permits the Parole Board to continue hearings without having to comply with Nevada's open meeting law.

State attorneys are asking the court to reconsider its previous decision. They will argue (again) that parole board hearings are judicial in nature and not subject to the state’s open meeting law. If the parole board followed those laws, the public would have the right to testify at parole board hearings, the board’s deliberations could not be kept secret, and records used during the hearing could be open to public review. The parole board is expected to argue that these requirements will slow down hearings, and that at the very least they need time to adjust to these requirements.

Nevada prisons release 266 people a month to parole, and the Department of Corrections is concerned that a suspension of parole board activities could lead to overcrowding in the prisons.

This news brief is based on stories in the Nevada Appeal, Inmates already granted parole not stuck in prison [1] and Parole board goes back to work [2]. If the links are broken, check the newspaper's archives.