Spanberger appoints brand new parole board, loved ones of inmates hope they’ll be more lenient

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Governor Abigail Spanberger announced the appointment of an entirely new parole board on Tuesday. Those with loved ones behind bars are hoping this will increase the number of inmates granted parole.

The board is made up of five members. Two are from Central Virginia, including chair Shannon Dion from Richmond and Rev. Tyrone Nelson from Henrico County. The other three are Valerie Boykin of Suffolk, Dr. Kecia N. Brothers Hayes of Chesapeake and Bishop Kevin White of Portsmouth.

This new board replaces Patricia West, Samuel Boone, Michelle Dermyer, Lloyd Banks and Carl Phillips Ferguson.

Virginia has one of the lowest parole rates in the country. In 2025, 2,609 inmates were considered. 32 were granted parole. That’s 1.22%.  

One of the inmates denied parole is Maurice Harris at Dillwyn Correctional Center. 

8News interviewed him in September about earning his General Educational Development (GED) diploma ahead of his fifth parole hearing where he was ultimately denied. 

“We had so much support this year that I can’t believe...that he got a no," Harris's fiancé Annette Long said.

Harris has been incarcerated since 1998 for a robbery and sexual assault he committed at 17 years old. 

Long said Harris was interviewed by someone who works under the parole board when his case went up for consideration. The interviewer then gave the information to the board to decide to grant or to not grant parole.

“He has never ever in-person spoken to a parole board member," Long said. “Why do you have a parole board if they don’t never get to plead their case to the parole board?” 

Long said she’s not sure what more Harris can do. 

“You know, he’s done almost 27 and a half years now," Long said. "So, how much time is enough time?” 

The previous board under Gov. Glenn Youngkin denied his parole because they believed it would “diminish seriousness of crime” and that he needs to do more institutional and educational programs to indicate positive progression. 

But Harris and his loved ones said he has done that. 

He's earned his GED behind bars in 2014, mastered several trade skills like painting and computer literacy, and graduated with honors for his AA degree from Piedmont Virginia Community College. He’s a peer mentor, facilitates anger management classes and proofreads resumes and cover letters for fellow inmates.  

Harris even had a letter from a construction company saying he’d have a job as soon as he’s released. Another letter from The Humanization Project, which brings college students and leaders behind bars together, said he’s "earned an opportunity for freedom."

“Every year I always think, ‘Okay, this is it, this is it, this is it,'" Long said. "And then they still come back with the same thing...He just goes on with his daily life and he’ll just be like, ‘I’ll get it next year.’” 

She's hoping the new board will reach a different conclusion than the previous one.  

“I pray every day that they start looking at the changes in people," she said.

Harris has since appealed the decision that denied his parole.  

With the board being in limbo since January when Gov. Spanberger took office, there is some backlog this new board will be expected to play catch up with.