The state Board of Pardons and Paroles has temporarily halted commutations of prison sentences amid controversy over a recent spike in sentence reductions.

Commutations were paused on April 10, said Richard Sparaco, executive director of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. It was the same day that Gov. Ned Lamont removed Carleton Giles as chair of the board in favor of board member Jennifer Zaccagnini.

The board had come under fire, mostly from Republican lawmakers, over the recent rise in number of prisoners being granted sentence reductions and because of the fact legislators say they were never notified of a new policy that allowed more prisoners to apply for commutation.

Statistics show that the Board of Pardons and Paroles granted 71 commutations in 2022, cutting an average of 15 years off of sentences. The majority of reductions were for those convicted of murder. One commutation saw a sentence reduced by 18 years for James Davis, a man sentenced to 48 years in prison for a shooting spree in1999 at the former Sportsman’s Athletic Club in Norwich that left one person dead and three others injured.

There had been six commutations between 2016 and 2021, before there was a pause while the policy was revised. The board has eight members but commutations were overseen by a panel of three, including Giles.

State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, had been among legislators pushing for changes in policies regarding commutations and said the pause will allow for a more transparent process. She said victims of crime and their families, lawmakers, prosecutors and defense attorneys should have input on how the new policy is revised.

“We need to decide collectively what the policy is — what is fair, what is just, and what is right,” Somers said in a statement. “Through engagement and through dialogue, we can make survivors’ voices heard and effect positive change.“

Somers said she has a list of recommendations for a revised policy that includes an end to sentence reductions for those who committed violent crimes and accepted a reduced sentence through a plea agreement. Families of victims, Somers said, were assured in some cases that the sentence handed down was the length of time the convicted person would serve. That turned out not to be true, she said.

Somers said that while Republican voices have been the loudest on the issue, the issue is bipartisan as shown by the governor’s decision to replace the former board chairman.

Sparaco said commutations were halted as a result of the recent change in leadership on the board.

“(Zaccagnini’s) first order of business was to place a pause on commutations and determine where we want to go from here,” Sparaco said. “She’s in this position specifically to look at the decision making process. I think we’ll be looking at different aspects of the policy and perhaps tweaking things like eligibility requirements.”

Sparaco said the board has heard from various stakeholders about the policy and expects the ideas to be taken into consideration when the new policy is drafted.

On its website, the Board of Pardons and Paroles indicates it will resume accepting applications for commutations and schedule hearings “within the next few months.”

State Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-90th District, a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said he was among those who met with representatives of the governor’s office on Wednesday and said his impression was the governor was looking to facilitate changes to the commutation policy.

Among other revisions, Fishbein said the notification process to the state’s attorneys and victims families need to be revised and the legislature should have a hand in those changes. He said he is not in favor of scrapping commutations altogether or making it too restrictive so that people cannot apply, “but something needs to change.”

Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, said the pause in commutations represented a “positive step.”

“It took press conferences for us to get the word out that, in this situation, the people of Connecticut’s voices were not being heard,” he said in a statement.

Adam Joseph, director of communications for Lamont, released a statement regarding Wednesday’s meeting on the commutation process.

“Our office is committed to continued bipartisan collaboration with stakeholders to ensure that the commutation process at the Board of Pardons and Paroles balances the importance of second chances for Connecticut prisoners, the perspectives of victims, and public safety considerations,” the statement reads.

He said Wednesday’s meeting was “the start of a collaborative process in which the leadership of the board committed itself to working with leadership of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee to consider revisions to its policies, including input from all stakeholders.”

g.smith@theday.com