There are two general classes of inmates in the California prison system: inmates sentenced to determinate terms, and inmates sentenced to indeterminate terms. Many inmates sentenced to determinate terms serve a fixed period of time and are released. Some who are serving determinate sentences, however, are eligible for parole consideration by the Board once they have served a specified portion of their sentence. Indeterminately-sentenced persons are serving “life” sentences, with or without the possibility of parole, such as 25 years-to-life or life without the possibility of parole, respectively.
Persons sentenced to state prison may be eligible for parole consideration or release based on one or more of the following parole eligible dates:
- Earliest Possible Release Date (EPRD) – the date determinately-sentenced offenders will be released based on the sentence imposed by the court, less any applicable credits;
- Minimum Eligible Parole Date (MEPD) – the date indeterminately-sentenced offenders (i.e., persons sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, or “lifers”) are eligible for parole consideration by the Board based on the sentence imposed by the court, less any applicable credits;
- Nonviolent Parole Eligible Date (NPED) – the date determinately or indeterminately-sentenced nonviolent offenders are eligible for parole consideration (administrative review for determinately-sentenced persons or parole hearing for indeterminately-sentenced persons) under Proposition 57, once they have served the full term of their primary offense; sex offenders are excluded;
- Youth Parole Eligible Date (YPED) – the date determinately or indeterminately-sentenced offenders who committed their controlling offense while under the age of 26 are eligible for a parole hearing, once they have served 15, 20, or 25 years, depending on the sentence imposed by the courts; persons sentenced under the Three Strikes Law are excluded; this is also the date persons sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for offenses they committed while under the age of 18 are eligible for a parole consideration hearing, once they have served 25 years; beginning January 2022, credits for educational milestones, such as high school diplomas and college degrees will be applied to YPEDs; and,
- Elderly Parole Eligible Date (EPED) – the date determinately and indeterminately-sentenced offenders are eligible for a parole hearing once they have served 25 years of incarceration and have reached the age of 60, based on the Three-Judge Panel’s 2014 court order; offenders sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or condemned are excluded; effective January 1, 2021, determinately and indeterminately-sentenced offenders will be eligible for a parole hearing once they have served 20 years of incarceration and have reached the age of 50 under Chapter 334 of the Statutes of 2020; persons sentenced under the Three Strikes law, persons convicted of first degree murder of a peace officer, and persons sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or condemned will be excluded.
If more than one of the above parole eligible dates applies to an inmate, the inmate’s “controlling parole eligible date” is the date that gives the person the earliest opportunity for parole consideration or release. Each inmate’s controlling parole eligible date is provided to the inmate and publically available on CDCR’s website via the Department’s “Inmate Locator” search engine.
