Kansas Senate committee still skeptical of plan to abolish state Parole Board

? The chairman of a Kansas Senate committee says members still have questions about Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to abolish the state Parole Board.

Chairman Tim Owens plans to resume Judiciary Committee hearings Friday on an executive reorganization order issued by the governor. The parole board will be eliminated and its duties transferred to the Department of Corrections on July 1 unless one legislative chamber rejects the order.

Panel members were skeptical during a hearing last week. Brownback argues the change will streamline government and save about $500,000 a year.

Critics have suggested the department would have a conflict of interest in deciding when inmates would be released early if prisons are crowded, as they are now. Brownback has pledged that public safety won’t be affected.