(a) The board shall meet at each of the state prisons and facilities under the jurisdiction of the Division of Adult Institutions. Meetings shall be held at whatever times may be necessary for a full and complete study of the cases of all inmates whose matters are considered. Other times and places of meeting may also be designated by the board. Each commissioner of the board shall receive his or her actual necessary traveling expenses incurred in the performance of his or her official duties. Where the board performs its functions by meeting en banc in either public or executive sessions to decide matters of general policy, at least seven members shall be present, and no action shall be valid unless it is concurred in by a majority vote of those present.

(b) The board may use deputy commissioners to whom it may assign appropriate duties, including hearing cases and making decisions. Those decisions shall be made in accordance with policies approved by a majority of the total membership of the board.

(c) The board may meet and transact business in panels. Each panel shall consist of two or more persons, subject to subdivision (d) of Section 3041. No action shall be valid unless concurred in by a majority vote of the persons present. In the event of a tie vote, the matter shall be referred to a randomly selected committee, comprised of a majority of the commissioners specifically appointed to hear adult parole matters and who are holding office at the time.

(d) Consideration of parole release for persons sentenced to life imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1168 shall be heard by a panel of two or more commissioners or deputy commissioners, of which only one may be a deputy commissioner. A recommendation for recall of a sentence under subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 1170 shall be made by a panel, a majority of whose commissioners are commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 33, Sec. 27. (SB 843) Effective June 27, 2016.)