The Province of Alberta is moving towards having their own parole board to deal with criminals convicted in Provincial Court.

The idea is to decide whether inmates in provincial jails, usually those with sentences of two years or less, be allowed conditional release.

Livingstone-Macleod MLA, Roger Reid, says it's a direct response to the rise in rural crime rates, which the Province says is a result of repeat offenders being released early and then turning around to re-offend.

"I think it's about holding offenders accountable. We heard a lot from Albertans when we did our roundtables last Summer with the Minister (Justice Minister, Doug Schweitzer) about the issue, really about the revolving door and the issue with repeat offenders. So this part of our plan to deal with those folks properly."

Reid, says they'll look for community members to be on the boards.

"When you are a part of the community, you have a better sense of the pulse of the community and even in terms of law enforcement, they know who their "frequent flyers" are. Because they're involved in the community. And this is just an extension of that for the parole board to have that same type of insight."

The Province says board members would be appointed based on specific knowledge of crime trends and resources in their communities.

The system could be up and running as early as next year.

Ontario and Quebec have similar systems in place.

 

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