Period of parole; discharge

The period of parole shall be the maximum of any sentence, less deductions for good conduct and work as provided by law, for which the paroled inmate, at the time of release, was subject to imprisonment under his or her definite or indeterminate sentence, as the case may be: Provided, That at any time after a parolee has been on parole for a minimum of one-year from the date of his or her release, the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or his or her designee, may submit a request to the chairperson of the parole board for a parolee’s early discharge from parole along with appropriate documentation as to the parolee’s good conduct while on parole. The chairperson may, after a review of the request and submission from the commissioner, or his or her designee, when in his or her judgment, the ends of parole have been attained and the best interests of the state and the parolee will be served by the early discharge, release the parolee from further supervision and discharge him or her from parole: Provided, however, That an inmate sentenced to serve a life term of imprisonment and released on parole may not be discharged from supervision and parole in a period less than five years from the date of his or her release on parole. A parolee who has violated the terms of his or her release on parole by confession to, or being convicted of, in any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the territorial possessions of the United States, the crime of treason, murder, aggravated robbery, first degree sexual assault, second degree sexual assault, a sexual offense against a minor, incest, or offenses with the same essential elements if known by other terms in other jurisdictions may not be discharged from parole. A parolee serving a sentence in any correctional facility of another state or the United States may, unless incarcerated for one of the above enumerated crimes, be discharged from parole while serving his or her sentence in a correctional facility or be continued on parole or returned to West Virginia as a parole violator, in the discretion of the parole board.