Kate Lisa reports at New York State of Politics that in her State of the State address in January, Gov. Kathy Hochul promised to fully staff the state Parole Board. But it is now July, and the board still has just 15 of 19 members, the same as before the pandemic began. The governor appointed one new parole commissioners who the state Senate confirmed, Darryl Towns. But member Erik Berliner's term expired June 18, so there are again four vacancies on the board. "Frankly, I think a fully staffed parole board, I don't even know what that looks like because I didn't experience it, would make a big difference in morale with parole board members, but also more efficient for people coming before the board," said former Parole Board Commissioner Carol Shapiro. Hochul and the Legislature did allocate $7.5 million to fully staff the board in the latest state budget, but still have four empty seats. "We are actively reviewing candidates to be nominated to fill the four additional seats on the Parole Board — increasing the board’s capacity to hear cases,” said Jim Urso, Hochul's deputy director of communications. The story says without all the seats filled, fewer people in prison get parole hearings. "When they don't have that time to really dig in, it can lead to needless denials of parolees and it can leave folks languishing behind bars for at least another two years," said TeAna Taylor, co-director of policy and communications with the Release Aging People in Prison campaign. And the Fair & Timely Parole and Elder Parole bills to reform the state's parole system did not make it out of legislative committees this past session. The parole board next meets on July 25. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.