Find Kentucky Parole Hearings

Kentucky Parole Board Decisions

The Kentucky Parole Board decides whether an eligible state offender may leave before sentence expiration under parole conditions. It is separate from Kentucky DOC, which holds offender and release records, and from Montgomery County Regional Jail, which records local custody exits. The Board also considers eligible sentenced felons housed in county jails and eligible youthful offenders. It does not decide ordinary county bond releases.

A parole decision may lead to release to the community under supervision. It may also authorize release to answer a detainer, which sends the person to another jurisdiction's custody. A detainer is another authority's request to receive or hold someone. The Board action therefore answers what was authorized, while the DOC event record answers whether and how the person left.

Parole is not a pardon or a reduction of the sentence. Under KRS 439.340, legal authority remains during parole. Montgomery County falls within DOC Probation and Parole District 8 after a qualifying community release. A supervising-office result in KOOL supports community supervision, not the end of all correctional authority.

Kentucky Parole Hearing Schedules

The Board conducts parole-eligibility hearings weekly. Its official schedule and eligibility page publishes schedules monthly and says they are updated each Monday morning. Hearings begin at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Current schedule documents identify the date, time, and location, while parallel eligibility lists identify the offender name, DOC number, offender location, and month of eligibility.

A hearing may occur up to two months before the actual eligibility month. Absence from one schedule does not prove that the person is ineligible, discharged, or no longer in custody. File review, rescheduling, deferment, and eligibility timing can all affect whether a name appears. Use the landing page rather than saving one monthly PDF as if it were permanent.

Lookup Montgomery Parole Hearings

Begin with the DOC number whenever possible. A name-only result can confuse people with similar names, aliases, or suffixes. The official Kentucky Offender Online Lookup, or KOOL, is the practical person-specific source because a full offender record may contain a parole-history table.

1. Find the person in KOOL and confirm the DOC number, name, age, photograph, offenses, and current location.
2. Open the current Board schedules and eligibility lists, then search the confirmed DOC number.
3. Record the date, location, and eligibility month without calling any of them a release date.
4. Return to the KOOL parole-history table for the Hearing Date, Hearing Action, Months Deferred, Next Parole Eligibility Date, and Proposed Release Date.
5. If the action is unclear, request the final Board action before drawing a conclusion.

KOOL updates daily but does not guarantee complete accuracy. The official gateway warns that newer offender data may not yet be finalized. Record the check time and retain the exact label. The full Montgomery County release lookup explains how jail, court, DOC, and VINE records answer different parts of the custody path.

Kentucky Parole Outcome Terms

Outcome terms must be kept intact. A grant or parole recommendation means the Board decided that the person may be released before sentence expiration. It does not establish that release occurred that day. Placement approval, a signed certificate, program completion, notice, or detainer handling may still stand between the decision and physical departure.

Granted

A favorable recommendation or action that may permit later release.

Deferment

A decision requiring a set number of months before further parole consideration.

Serve-out or SOT

A decision that the person serves until sentence completion.

Proposed release date

A planned date that remains subject to requirements and later events.

Parole to detainer

Release from Kentucky authority into another jurisdiction's custody.

For certain nonviolent, nonsexual Class C or D felonies, KRS 439.340 limits a deferment to twenty-four months. Other longer deferments require specified Board voting and are generally capped, with separate treatment for life sentences. Those rules should not be used to predict an outcome from felony class alone. Offense date, sentence structure, offense type, and the KOOL record all matter.

Mandatory reentry supervision is also distinct. KRS 439.3406 may require a qualifying supervised release before projected completion for an eligible person not granted discretionary parole. A Daily Releases entry saying “Mandatory Reentry Supervision - In State” should not be rewritten as a favorable Board grant.

Observe Kentucky Parole Hearings

Public observation is possible for some proceedings. A person seeking videoconference observation should email Paroleboard@ky.gov. For in-person observation, contact the institution holding the offender and follow its entry rules. Observation does not permit participation. Remote observers must keep video off and audio muted, may not speak, and may be removed for interruption.

File reviews cannot be observed. KRS 439.340 also permits closure of specified hearings for personal-safety reasons when an eligible participant asks. A closed or unobservable proceeding is not evidence of a grant, denial, or release. Check the later final action and KOOL history instead of inferring the result from access.

Note: Contact the holding institution before travel because the Board schedule does not replace institution entry rules or notice of a change.

Confirm Kentucky Parole Release

A hearing is one point in a longer chain. Eligibility permits consideration. The Board action records the decision. DOC then handles the custody exit and supervision record. A strong Montgomery County verification aligns the Board result with a completed event and the later KOOL status.

1. Confirm the scheduled proceeding and eligibility month.
2. Read the KOOL hearing action without shortening its wording.
3. Obtain the final Board order when the public label is incomplete or unclear.
4. Search the dated KDOC Daily Releases archive by name or DOC number.
5. Check KOOL again for a supervising office, facility, or discharged status.

“Granted” without a Daily Releases event does not establish physical release. “Deferred” means later consideration, not release. “Serve-out” points toward sentence completion rather than discretionary parole. If the event report names a detainer or another custody mechanism, do not describe the person as released home.

District 8 becomes relevant only after KOOL places the person in Kentucky community supervision. The Montgomery County satellite office is at the Courthouse Annex, 44 West Main Street, Mt. Sterling, Kentucky 40353, phone 859-498-2524. It is not the office that schedules Board hearings or issues final Board actions.

Kentucky Parole Board Contact

Use the Board contact for hearing schedules, observation requests, and Board process questions. Use DOC for custody status and release events. Keeping those offices separate prevents a Board recommendation from being mistaken for an executed release.

The Board's statutes, regulations, and policies page links the hearing-process and parole-release policies. Those documents explain the process framework. They do not replace the named person's schedule, final action, or later DOC status.

Request Kentucky Parole Records

For a formal decision, use the Board's open-records process. Identify the person by full name and DOC number. Add the hearing date or approximate month, then request the existing final parole action or order and the releasable hearing record. A focused request is more useful than asking for everything about parole.

Written requests go to JusticeOpenRecords@ky.gov or to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Office of General Counsel, Attn: Deanna Smith, Records Custodian, 125 Holmes Street, 2nd Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601. The records office can be reached at 502-564-3279 or by fax at 502-564-6686.

Kentucky's Open Records Act does not make every part of a parole file public. Preliminary recommendations, private information, safety-sensitive details, and other exempt material may be withheld. Ask for the final action and identify the event precisely. If a portion is denied, the agency response should state the legal basis.

A final Board action still does not certify the prison gate event. Pair it with the Daily Releases report and updated KOOL location. This sequence distinguishes authorization, physical release, supervision, transfer, and discharge without asking one record to answer every question.

When the person was sentenced in Montgomery County but is held elsewhere, do not assume the county predicts the hearing location or release point. Kentucky DOC may place a sentenced person in an institution or approved local jail anywhere in the state system. The schedule's location field and the current KOOL record identify the relevant institution. After release, the public supervision office may also differ from the county of conviction.

Keep a short audit trail for any conclusion: the confirmed DOC number, the schedule month, hearing action, final-order date, Daily Releases event, and later KOOL status. If one source conflicts, state the conflict and check with the responsible office. A similar name, eligibility date, or proposed release date cannot substitute for the completed event.