WATERBURY, Conn. — The state Board of Pardons and Paroles is set to begin new parole hearings for juvenile offenders who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

The hearings stem from state legislation approved last year that brought Connecticut in line with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on long prison sentences for juveniles.

Connecticut's law eliminated automatic life sentences for juvenile offenders. It also established new parole eligibility rules for people sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for crimes committed when they were under 18.

The first parole hearing is set for Wednesday for Owen Mason, who's serving a 12-year sentence for a 2005 Bridgeport fatal shooting when he was 17.

Officials plan to hold such hearings every week or so. More than 200 prisoners qualify for the hearings.