Photographs of Federal Penitentiaries

Drummond Institution

Road leading to Drummond Institution.

On site parking is available to visitors and includes handicapped parking.

Main entrance to Drummond Institution. The Drummond Institution is a medium-security facility located on Jean-de-Bréboeuf Boulevard in Drummondville, Quebec. The Institution opened in 1984 and has a rated capacity of 285 inmates. All visitors including victims and observers must report to the security desk.

Upon entering, observers and victims are required to sign a visitor's log. Photo identification is necessary. A visitor's card is issued and must be worn and kept visible to institutional staff at all times during the visit. Observers and victims will be greeted by a Parole Board of Canada (PBC) Regional Communication Officer, or a Correctional Service Canada (CSC) Victim Liaison Co-ordinator, who will escort them to the waiting room and the hearing room.

Security staff may ask you to store your personal belongings in a locker.

Visitors must pass through a metal detector and a search of person may occur at that time.

Personal belongings must also pass through a metal detector.

Security door to the hearing room.

This is the waiting room area. A pre-hearing briefing is done by a PBC Regional Communications Officer, or a CSC Victim Liaison Co-ordinator. The conditional release decision-making process will be explained to you and any questions answered. Visitors sit in the waiting room before the hearing, during the Board Members deliberation, as well as after the hearing is over. Observers have access to designated washrooms and water.

Entrance to the hearing room. Please note that cameras and recording devices are not permitted in a parole hearing.

PBC parole hearing participants include the Board Members, the CSC Parole Officer, the offender and his assistant. The assistant is someone of the offender's choosing, i.e. a family member or a lawyer. The entire proceedings are tape recorded. A security officer may be present for hearings observed by victims.

A victim may present a statement to the Board Members and may choose to read it or present it on videotape or audiotape.

Observers and the victims are seated in the back of the room and may be within close proximity to the offender.

The PBC Hearing Officer introduces the participants and ensures procedural safeguards are respected. Board Members then begin the parole hearing.

Board Members start the hearing by asking the CSC Parole Officer to present the case and to make recommendations.

Following this, Board Members interview the offender regarding his criminal and social history, institutional behaviour, and results of programming and release plans. The offender's assistant may speak after Board Members are finished with the offender's interview. When Board Members have completed their interview with the offender, everyone must leave the room in order for Board members to deliberate. Observers return to the waiting room where they can ask questions about what they have observed.

When Board Members have reached a decision, everyone is asked to return to the hearing room. The Board Members will announce their decision to the offender and will provide reasons for that decision. The hearing is now over. The observers return to the waiting room to ask questions or clarifications in regards to the decision.