Attorney General Miyares calls for more transparency with Virginia’s Parole Board

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Virginia’s Attorney General, Jason Miyares (R), is pushing to make the Parole Board release process more victim-centric.

Miyares says he want to be their voice.

Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) ordered a total overhaul of the Parole Board during his first days in office.

Gov. Youngkin installed a new chairman, who put out a report in early January about changes that were in the works to make the system easier to understand.

Miyares says it is about making sure victims are protected.

“The Parole Board votes on who’s being released should be be made public,” he said.

Miyares says he was shocked when he first looked into the board under former Governor Ralph Northam (D).

“We saw 134 cases of convicted felons that were released early, 130 of these were violent felons. These are first and second degree murderers, capital murderers, robbers and rapists. The average sentence of the individual released early during our investigation was life plus 28 years,” Miyares said.

The Parole Board report says there needs to be more transparency.

“The first thing is make sure that victims voices are not ignored. So, strengthening our victim notification requirement, I think, is critical,” Miyares said.

Do you have a story idea? Send us your news tip here.

Copyright 2023 WVIR. All rights reserved.