23-21.002. Definitions

The following definitions are provided for the clarification of all terms used throughout Title 23, F.A.C.: (1) “Aggravate” means to add a number of months to established number of months selected from the matrix time range. (2) “Aggregation” means a process to separate multiple criminal episodes and score each single episode by determining the salient factor score, severity of offense behavior, presence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances and assess a number of months of incarceration for each scored episode. The total of months for each scored episode is then aggregated (added together) for the establishment of a presumptive parole release date. (3) “Burglary” and “breaking and entering” are defined as they are found in the Florida Statutes on the dates the crimes were committed. (4) “Commission Chair” means the commissioner who, as selected by the Governor and Cabinet, is authorized to conduct agency business and call and preside over Commission meetings. (5) “Commission investigator,” is synonymous with “parole examiner,” “hearing examiner,” and “parole hearing examiner,” and means a Commission employee authorized to: (a) Conduct an initial, subsequent, effective, extraordinary, or special interview; (b) Provide professional case analyses and recommendations to the Commission; (c) Conduct investigations for the Commission; (d) Hold release and recognizance, preliminary and final revocation, and rescission hearings and make findings of facts and recommendations to the Commission; (e) Perform other duties as assigned. (6) “Commission meeting” or “meeting” means a publicly noticed meeting of the Commission, including business meetings. (7) “Commission Secretary” means the commissioner whom the commissioners select from their number to serve as secretary for a period of one year or until a successor is elected and qualified, and whose duties include serving notice and publishing information concerning Commission business meetings and preparation and distribution of agendas, maintenance of the official minutes, and recorder of minutes of all Commission business meetings. (8) “Commission Vice-Chair” means the commissioner selected by the Governor and Cabinet to serve as Chair in the absence of the Chair, and who is authorized to call and preside over Commission meetings in the absence of the Chair. (9) “Competent and persuasive” means that: (a) The information is specific as to the behavior alleged to have taken place, and (b) The source of the allegation appears to be reliable. (10) “Conditional medical release” means the release of an inmate from incarceration by the Commission as set forth in section 947.149, F.S., under conditions of release and supervision, as a result of being referred by the Department as permanently incapacitated or terminally ill. (11) “County jail time credit” means the time awarded by the court for time spent in custody prior to sentencing. (12) “Criminal episode” means the commission of one or more criminal offenses ending with the last imposition of a court sanction. Any offense committed after a court sanction or pronouncement of disposition will be considered a subsequent criminal episode and subject to aggregation. (13) “Department” means the Florida Department of Corrections. (14) “Early termination of parole” means a Commission order of discharge from the term and conditions of parole prior to the expiration date of parole as set forth on the parole certificate. (15) “Effective parole release date (EPRD)” means the actual parole release date, when authorized by the Commission as set forth in sections 947.1745, 947.1746 and 947.18, F.S. (16) “Element of a crime” means that which is specifically contained in the statutory definition of the crime on the date the crime was committed. (17) “Escape” is defined as it is found in the Florida Statutes on the date the crime was committed. (18) “Exceptional circumstances” are those circumstances which are out of the ordinary. (19) “Extend” means to increase the presumptive parole release date. (20) “Extraordinary review” means an examination by the Commission of the entire record in an inmate’s case following the Commission’s decision declining to authorize an effective parole release date. (21) “Final revocation hearing or final hearing” means a fact-finding quasi-judicial hearing held by the Commission, a commissioner, or the Commission’s authorized representative for the purpose of determining whether a parolee has violated the conditions of the parole and if so, what recommendation should be made to the Commission. (22) “Good cause” means factors legally sufficient that justify action taken and which are not arbitrary, capricious, irrational, or unreasonable. (23) “Individual particularity” means case-specific, factual material or references related to the inmate, including but not limited to the circumstances of the offense and unsatisfactory institutional conduct. (24) “Initial date of confinement in execution of the judgment” means the initial date of incarceration in the Department or, in the instance of a county jail sentence, receipt at the county jail. (25) “Inmate” means any person under commitment to incarceration in any state or federal correctional facility or county jail. (26) “Juvenile sanction” means a court-imposed punishment on a minor for an act which, if committed by an adult, would have been criminal. (27) “Matrix time range” means the range of months found where the inmate’s salient factor score total intersects with the inmate’s severity of offense behavior. (28) “Mitigate” means to reduce the number of months used to establish the presumptive parole release date. (29) “New information” means knowledge acquired subsequent to the initial interview or the establishment of the presumptive parole release date. (30) “Nullification of parole” means the Commission action voiding the grant of parole when an inmate refuses to accept parole. (31) “Presumptive parole release date (PPRD)” means the tentative parole release date, when authorized by the Commission as set forth in section 947.172, F.S. (32) “Parole” means the release of an inmate, prior to the expiration of the inmate’s sentence(s), with a period of supervision to be successfully completed by compliance with enumerated conditions and terms of a release as ordered by the Commission. (33) “Parolee” means an inmate who has been paroled. (34) “Preliminary hearing” means an informal quasi-judicial hearing held after a parolee has been arrested pursuant to a Commission warrant to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that a violation(s) of a condition(s) of parole has occurred. (35) “Present commitment” means the total of court sentences to incarceration, including an expired sentence(s) contained therein, resulting from a single criminal offense or multiple offenses involved in a single criminal episode. An inmate may have more than one present commitment for computation purposes. Further, court sentences of 60 days or more are considered as commitments to incarceration, including sentences to time served as provided in subsection 23-21.007(2), F.A.C. (36) “Present offense of conviction” means the offense or offenses resulting in conviction in a single criminal episode. At least one of the convictions must result in a sentence to incarceration for 60 days or more, including sentences to time served of 60 days or more. (37) “Prior criminal record” means a criminal offense(s) which results in the imposition of a judicial sanction, when both the consummation of the criminal offense(s) and the initial imposition of the judicial sanction(s) are obtained at some date earlier in time than the offense(s) resulting in commitment to incarceration for the present offense of conviction. For the purpose of scoring in this category, prior offenses resulting in probation with adjudication of guilt withheld will be counted. (38) “Probation” means the release of a defendant for a period of judicially imposed supervision to be completed by compliance with enumerated conditions and terms of release, as ordered by the sentencing court. (39) “Quorum” means a majority of the Commission. (40) “Recidivist criminal factor” means 4 or more prior adult felony convictions or juvenile adjudications for felony offenses, from 4 or more separate criminal episodes, at least 2 of which resulted in a sentence of incarceration of 60 days or more. (41) “Rescission of parole” means the withdrawal of an effective parole release date. (42) “Revocation of parole” means the order of the Commission entered after a parolee has been found to have violated a condition(s) of parole and requires the parolee’s return to prison to resume service of the sentence(s). (43) “Salient factors” are the indices of the inmate’s present and prior criminal behavior and related factors found by experience to be predictive in regard to parole outcome. (44) “Satisfactory release plan” means a release plan that meets the following requirements and is approved by the Commission: (a) A transitional housing program or residence confirmed by field investigation to be sufficient to meet the living needs of the parolee, or sufficient financial resources or assistance to secure adequate living accommodations; (b) Self-sustaining employment or financial support sufficient to preclude the parolee from becoming a public charge, confirmed by field investigation; (c) Both paragraphs (a) and (b), available in a community that does not represent individual, collective, or official resentment or hostility to an extent that it impairs the opportunity for lawful and peaceful existence of the parolee or any individual within that community; (d) If the parolee is a convicted sexual offender or predator, the proposed transitional housing program or residence and employment must not pose an undue risk to persons under the age of eighteen; (e) The occupants of the proposed transitional housing program or residence must not pose an undue risk to the parolee’s ability to reintegrate into society; and (f) The proposed transitional housing program or residence must not contain any firearms. (45) “Sentencing Guidelines” is synonymous with “Criminal Punishment Code” and means any sentencing scheme that does not provide for a parole component. (46) “Severity of offense behavior” means the statutorily assigned degree of felony or misdemeanor for the present offense of conviction. (47) “Subpoena” or “subpoena duces tecum” means a document signed by a commissioner or an authorized Commission representative which compels the attendance of a person at a Commission proceeding and may require the person so compelled to bring with him or her designated items as specified on the document. (48) “Tentative release date” means the date projected by the Department for the inmate’s release from custody by virtue of gain-time granted or forfeited pursuant to section 944.275(3)(a), F.S. (49) “Unsatisfactory institutional conduct” includes behavior which results in one or more of the following: (a) A disciplinary action as defined by the Department that results in the loss of gain time and (or) placement in disciplinary confinement; (b) A pending or completed court prosecution; (c) A reclassification action, including but not limited to raising custody classification, transferring to a higher custody or level institution, or transferring to close management status; (d) The Commission finding there is competent and persuasive evidence in the form of an admission against interest by the inmate, or (e) The Commission finding there is competent and persuasive independent knowledge of an action pending either in court or in the Department’s disciplinary hearing process. (50) “Vacate” means to set aside a previously established date or order. (51) “Victim” means a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result of the commission or attempted commission of a crime or delinquent act or against whom the crime or delinquent act is committed. The term “victim” includes the victim’s lawful representative, the parent or guardian of a minor, or the next of kin of a homicide victim, except upon a showing that the interest of such individual would be in actual or potential conflict with the interests of the victim. The term “victim” does not include the accused. The terms “crime” and “criminal” include delinquent acts and conduct. (52) “Warrant” means a document executed by a commissioner or other authorized member of the Commission authorizing and requiring the arrest of a parolee or releasee for alleged violations of conditions of parole or other form of supervision (53) “Work release” means the Department’s community work release program.