After nearly 30 years in prison, Derek Williams appreciates the progress he’s made in his pursuit of parole.
NNS previously reported that Williams’ 180-year sentence for a string of armed robberies was reduced after he protected a correctional officer during a stabbing.
The sentence reduction made him eligible for parole decades earlier than he would have been otherwise.
He said he’s been doing all he can to go from parole eligibility to freedom.
Right now, he’s housed at the Sturtevant Transitional Facility, a minimum-security prison.
Five days a week, he is transported to the Racine Correctional Institution for his job in the gatehouse.
“I walk around freely,” Williams said. “I see every staff member and every visitor that comes through.”
But what he wants is work release, something fundamentally different.
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His 180-year prison sentence was cut after saving a guard’s life. Years later, he’s still waiting to go home.
In 2023, a judge cut Derek Williams’ prison sentence in half, making him eligible for parole. Williams now faces an uncertain parole process.
Williams, 51, said he has always understood that a key way to demonstrate readiness for parole is doing work release – in which the Wisconsin Department of Corrections allows incarcerated people to leave a prison for a job in the community and return after their shift.
Williams said his pursuit of parole hit a major setback because his pursuit of work release has hit one.
In February, the Wisconsin Parole Commission deferred Williams’ parole for six months and withdrew its endorsement for work release, citing concerns that he was dishonest during his January parole hearing.
It is a setback driving Williams, his wife and other loved ones crazy.
“I’m literally being held in prison because the prison is not letting me out to do work release,” he said.
A Wisconsin Watch investigation found that work release opportunities in the state were limited and that prison officials weren’t tracking participation rates.
Wisconsin’s work-release program promises opportunity. Prisoners say jobs are scarce.
Wisconsin was the first state to let some incarcerated people work in the community, allowing them to save money and pay for room and board. Today, prisoners say there aren’t nearly enough of these jobs to go around, and prison officials say they don’t keep count.
Accusation of dishonesty
The commission said Williams falsely claimed during his January hearing that at a previous hearing a commissioner had discussed initiating a pre-release investigation.
A pre-release investigation is conducted by correctional staff to verify housing, employment and public safety before parole is granted.
After reviewing the audio and transcript from the earlier hearing, the commission wrote that there was no mention of a pre-release investigation.
Williams’ “willingness to be dishonest during a parole review (and about another parole commissioner) heightens the commissioner’s stated reservations,” the Wisconsin Parole Commission said in its Feb. 2 decision.
Williams disputes this characterization, saying he was attempting to explain prior discussions, not mislead the panel or manipulate the parole process.
He also said he was not provided an opportunity to clarify his comments before the Wisconsin Parole Board made its decision.
‘Not an entitlement’
Despite the different claims about what happened, the effect on Williams’ prospects is clear.
Robert Miller is the warden of the Racine Correctional Institution, who oversees off-site authorizations for people housed at Sturtevant. Miller told Rikki Williams in an email that because the Parole Commission no longer endorses work release, her husband’s anticipated release date could be “significantly in the future.”
Beth Hardtke, director of communications for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, said in an email that work release decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
“Work release placement decisions and approvals may vary based on the individual and the types of conviction(s),” Hardtke said. “The individual’s conduct and work history … may be considered.”
In its decision, the Wisconsin Parole Commission also cited Williams’ criminal history and public safety concerns but did not elaborate on them.
A spokesperson for the commission previously told NNS that “a parole grant is not an entitlement.”
For now, Williams remains in the gatehouse.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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