Gerald Surratt Jr. Was Released on "Institutional Parole"

 

Until a few weeks ago, Gerald Winston Surratt Jr. was serving a 15 year sentence on theft charges. Sentenced in August 2018, Gerry was receiving Correctional Incentive Time and would have finished his prison stint in November 2023.

Our local bad boy was also eligible for parole consideration, but when he came before the board on June 10th of this year, he was denied. End of story? Not quite.

Over the past few years, we've seen several felons released early even when no parole hearing was scheduled. How does this work? It's called Institutional Parole or Mandatory Release.

For someone like Surratt whose sentence was over ten years, the Department of Corrections can offer its own version of parole 12 months before the literal end of sentence. With crowded prisons, the DOC is using this plan more and more.

Now that Surratt has been arrested again in Florence, will he return to prison to finish his sentence? We doubt it. He was charged with misdemeanors and quickly bonded out. We'll be watching to see how long his freedom lasts this time.