Governor to replace 3 on Parole Board when terms end
The head of the Massachusetts Parole Board and two members have been notified by state officials they will be replaced by the governor when their terms expire this year, people close to the board members said.
The actions of the six-member Parole Board became an issue in last summer's gubernatorial campaign after it was reported that Governor Deval Patrick had written twice to the board on behalf of convicted rapist Benjamin LaGuer, whose appeals for freedom the board rejected.
According to campaign aides, Patrick had privately criticized the way the board operates, but never called publicly for an overhaul of the agency.
Patrick spokesman Kyle Sullivan would not confirm yesterday that the board members will not be reappointed or say whether the governor has had philosophical differences with the board, whose members were appointed by Republican governors.
"The governor has asked his entire Cabinet to assess every department, agency, and board in state government, their focus, their management and their long term goals," Sullivan said. "This is an ongoing process that at times involves changes in management. In a new administration, that is no surprise.
"Any comment on specific changes will wait until they are finalized," he said.
Parole Board members serve five-year terms or are appointed to fill unexpired terms of departed members.
The board is authorized to grant paroles, oversee supervision of parolees, and recommend pardons and sentence commutations.
Chairwoman Maureen E. Walsh, a former prosecutor, and two other members whose terms expire this year will not be reappointed, according to three people who have spoken to Walsh. Walsh, who has served on the board since 1998, earns more than $100,000; the other members earn about $90,000 a year.
According to the secretary of state's office, the two other parole board members are Deborah A. McDonagh and Daniel M. Dewey.
LaGuer was convicted in 1984 of repeatedly raping and sodomizing a 59-year-old woman in her Leominster apartment complex. He has an appeal pending before the state Supreme Judicial Court.
During the campaign, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a Republican , attacked Patrick for advocating LaGuer's release before the Parole Board and donating $5,000 to a fund to pay for DNA tests.
LaGuer's next parole hearing is scheduled for 2008.
Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com. 