A prison sentence is more than a number on a piece of paper. For victims of violent crimes, it represents accountability for a life taken, a shattered family or a community that will never be the same.
That is why Virginians need to pay attention to the actions of the Virginia Parole Board.
The numbers show a significant change within the past six months.
According to the Virginia Parole Board’s own records, the board considered 2,609 inmates for parole in 2025. The board ultimately granted parole to just 32, which resulted in an overall grant rate of approximately 1.2 percent.
On March 10, Governor Abigail Spanberger appointed a new five-member parole board. Since then, the board’s published monthly decisions show they have granted around 10 percent of requests for parole, including cases involving offenders whose records contain murder and other serious convictions for violent crimes.
These are not statistics pulled from a political advertisement. They come from the Virginia Parole Board’s own records.
Consider the case of James Leon Johnson.
Johnson was serving a life sentence, plus 20 years, for the 1983 murder and robbery of Lorraine Parsons. Johnson had been incarcerated for more than 42 years when the new board granted his release in July. The previous parole board denied Johnson parole in 2024.
The board cited Johnson’s rehabilitation, institutional adjustment and community support and unanimously concluded that he had served sufficient time.
While the board has the legal authority to consider those factors, Virginians have an equally important interest in asking how that authority is being exercised, particularly when the decision involves someone convicted of taking another person’s life.
Johnson’s case, however, is not the only one raising eyebrows.
The recent case of Troy Demar has also brought the parole board’s responsibility into even sharper focus.
Demar was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1998 stabbing death of Christine Allen.
Allen’s three-month-old daughter was in the home when her mother was killed.
The previous parole board denied Demar parole in April 2025 and cited the serious nature and circumstances of his offense. The board concluded that Demar should serve more of his sentence and that his release would diminish the seriousness of the crime.
However, under Governor Spanberger’s new parole board, Demar was granted parole earlier this month.
Christine Allen’s family opposed his release. Nearly three decades after losing Christine, they were once again forced to confront the consequences of the crime committed against their family.
Their experience should remind us of something that can be lost when parole is discussed only in terms of percentages, risk assessments and institutional records:
There is a victim behind every violent crime, and the absence of victims like Lorraine Parsons and Christine Allen should carry greater weight than has been given by this parole board.
In any event, the records make one thing clear. The commonwealth is currently releasing parole-eligible inmates at an increased rate.
Virginia largely abolished traditional discretionary parole for felony offenses committed beginning in 1995. The inmates who remain eligible in 2026 represent a relatively narrow population of inmates governed by older sentencing laws and specific statutory exceptions.
Eligibility for parole has never meant entitlement to parole, though.
The Virginia Parole Board says its mission is to grant parole when an inmate’s release is compatible with public safety. Its process considers rehabilitation, institutional conduct, risk assessments, release plans, the circumstances surrounding the crime and input from victims.
While each of those things is very important, one thing does not need to be glossed over. No matter what has happened, rehabilitation does not erase the crime.
It does not erase the sentence, and it certainly does not erase the victim.
As legislators and sheriffs, we see this issue from different perspectives, but we share the same fundamental responsibility to the people we serve.
Members of law enforcement see firsthand what violent crime leaves behind. They respond to the scene, conduct lengthy investigations, and sit with victims and their families on their darkest days. They witness consequences that reverberate long after a criminal case disappears from the headlines.
As legislators, we have a responsibility to ensure that Virginia’s laws protect public safety, respect victims and provide meaningful oversight of the government institutions entrusted with carrying them out.
That is why Virginians deserve greater transparency from the parole board.
The public should be able to easily determine how many inmates are being considered and released, the crimes they were convicted of, how much of their sentences they have served, whether victims or prosecutors supported or opposed release, the reasons the board granted parole and how each board member voted.
When there is a significant change in parole outcomes following the appointment of a new board, Virginians deserve an explanation of whether the standards or philosophy governing those decisions have changed.
This is not about denying that people can change or be rehabilitated.
It is about recognizing the balance of those things against accountability, the rights of victims and the safety of the public.
A life sentence should mean something. A jury’s verdict should mean something. The suffering of a victim’s family should mean something.
When the commonwealth makes the extraordinary decision to release someone convicted of murder or another serious violent crime, the burden should be on the government to demonstrate to Virginians that the decision was made with public safety and the rights of victims at the forefront.
Virginians and victims deserve nothing less.
Del. Terry Kilgore is a Republican legislator from Scott County and House minority leader. Del. Terry Austin is a Republican legislator from Botetourt County. Grant Kilgore is sheriff of Wise County. Matt Ward is sheriff of Botetourt County.
