§ 77-27-1. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter:

(1) "Appearance" means any opportunity to address the board, a board member, a panel, or hearing officer, including an interview.

(2) "Board" means the Board of Pardons and Parole.

(3) "Commission" means the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

(4) "Commutation" is the change from a greater to a lesser punishment after conviction.

(5) "Department" means the Department of Corrections.

(6) "Expiration" occurs when the maximum sentence has run.

(7) "Family" means persons related to the victim as a spouse, child, sibling, parent, or grandparent, or the victim's legal guardian.

(8) "Hearing" means an appearance before the board, a panel, a board member or hearing examiner, at which an offender or inmate is afforded an opportunity to be present and address the board, and encompasses the term "full hearing."

(9) "Location," in reference to a hearing, means the physical location at which the board, a panel, a board member, or a hearing examiner is conducting the hearing, regardless of the location of any person participating by electronic means.

(10) "Open session" means any hearing before the board, a panel, a board member, or a hearing examiner which is open to the public, regardless of the location of any person participating by electronic means.

(11) "Panel" means members of the board assigned by the chairperson to a particular case.

(12) "Pardon" is an act of grace that forgives a criminal conviction and restores the rights and privileges forfeited by or because of the criminal conviction. A pardon releases an offender from the entire punishment prescribed for a criminal offense and from disabilities that are a consequence of the criminal conviction. A pardon reinstates any civil rights lost as a consequence of conviction or punishment for a criminal offense.

(13) "Parole" is a release from imprisonment on prescribed conditions which, if satisfactorily performed by the parolee, enables the parolee to obtain a termination of his sentence.

(14) "Probation" is an act of grace by the court suspending the imposition or execution of a convicted offender's sentence upon prescribed conditions.

(15) "Reprieve or respite" is the temporary suspension of the execution of the sentence.

(16) "Termination" is the act of discharging from parole or concluding the sentence of imprisonment prior to the expiration of the sentence.

(17) "Victim" means:

(a) a person against whom the defendant committed a felony or class A misdemeanor offense, and regarding which offense a hearing is held under this chapter; or

(b) the victim's family, if the victim is deceased as a result of the offense for which a hearing is held under this chapter.

Amended by Chapter 41, 2013 General Session