AUTHORITY TO CONSIDER AND ORDER RELEASE ON PAROLE

(a) A parole panel may consider for release and release on parole an inmate who: (1) has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the institutional division; (2) is confined in a penal or correctional institution, including a jail in this state, a federal correctional institution, or a jail or a correctional institution in another state; and (3) is eligible for release on parole. (b) A parole is issued only on the order of a parole panel. (c) Before releasing an inmate on parole, a parole panel may have the inmate appear before the panel and interview the inmate. (d) A parole panel may release an inmate on parole during the parole month established for the inmate if the panel determines that the inmate's release will not increase the likelihood of harm to the public. (e) A parole panel may release an inmate on parole only when: (1) arrangements have been made for the inmate's employment or for the inmate's maintenance and care, which may include the issuance of payment for the cost of temporary post-release housing under Section 508.157; and (2) the parole panel believes that the inmate is able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen. (f) A parole panel may order a parole only for the best interest of society and not as an award of clemency. (g) The board shall adopt a policy establishing the date on which the board may reconsider for release an inmate who has previously been denied release. The policy must require the board to reconsider the inmate for release during a month designated under Subsection (g-1) by the parole panel that denied release. (g-1) The month designated for reconsideration must: (1) except as provided by Subdivisions (2) and (3), begin after the first anniversary of the date of the denial and end before the fifth anniversary of the date of the denial; (2) if the inmate is serving a sentence for an offense under Section 481.115, Health and Safety Code, involving a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1, or an offense under Section 481.1151, 481.116, 481.1161, 481.117, 481.118, or 481.121 of that code, begin as soon as practicable after the first anniversary of the date of the denial; or (3) if the inmate is serving a sentence for an offense under Section 22.021, Penal Code, or a life sentence for a capital felony, begin after the first anniversary of the date of the denial and end before the 10th anniversary of the date of the denial.