SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has developed a new, groundbreaking notification system called MyVoice that is meant to empower victims of crime. MyVoice gives victims control of when and how they receive information about parole hearings.

“In 2024 we were already working on MyVoice,” said Brittany Karzen, Program Director, Public Outreach & Transparency, Utah Board of Pardons & Parole. “We had kind of convened a group of victims who had interacted with us, some of whom said the notifications never really made it to them.”

Historically the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has only sent notifications about hearings via snail mail, she said. “We would do our best to find people’s contact information but when you think about it some folks we had contact information that was like 20 years old.”

By the time someone would actually get their hearing it could be a number of years later, said Karzen. “Sometimes, especially if you have a common name, it could be really hard for us to find updated contact info. So as we were really looking at ways to improve that process we started building what we call MyVoice.”

It’s a trauma-informed victim notification system, she said. “We rolled out phase one sometime in 2024. It was for internal use. So what that did was for the first time instead of using the offender management system to track victim information, we actually had a separate database that was specifically designed for victims to track victim information.”

That was huge, Karzen said. “Now we can really prioritize the needs of those victims and get their contact information in. We were using it internally with the goal of always having it, eventually as an outward facing system for victims of record (a victim whose offense is listed in the judgment and commitment from the judge) to be able to actually use themselves.”

That’s what phase 2 is that’s being rolled out, she said. “A victim of record, if they’re new to the system, when their offender gets sentenced to prison they’ll get a letter form us with a PIN number so that they can set up their account.” 

What they’ll be able to do is go in and actually update their contact information on their own, said Karzen. “As well, they’ll be able to set some preferences like blackout dates so if you don’t want to receive any notifications from us at the anniversary of the offense or on a birthday or something like that.”

They’ll be able to mark in the system that those are dates they don’t want to be notified, she said. “So all of this really is meant to improve the process.”

Sometimes there are multiple people who can be a victim of an individual but sometimes not all of those offenses are convicted, Karzen said. “From the board’s perspective we work with those victims of record because once someone is sentenced to prison we can only deal with those things that are sentenced. We can’t deal with allegations.“

Right now the system is really about victim notification information, she said. “That’s all we are really able to do right now but as we move forward we want to get to the point where we’ll be able to send those notifications of when a decision is made after a hearing.”

They still get that information now, said Karzen. “When the board sets a tentative date for a hearing, the victim of record will get a letter from us saying that that’s when that tentative hearing will be.”

Key features of the MyVoice system that can be accessed by victims of record include:

• Customizable Notifications: Survivors can choose their preferred method of contact (email, text, and/or mail). Enrollment is voluntary, victims who choose not to register for the digital portal will continue to get mail notifications.

• Secure Access: A personalized PIN-based login ensures the victim’s identity.

• Safety First: The portal includes a "Quick Exit" button that immediately signs the user out and redirects to a neutral site for those in sensitive safety situations.

• On-Demand Enrollment: Survivors who wish to enroll immediately do not need to wait for a letter. They may contact the Board of Pardons and Parole directly via phone at 801-261-6464 or email [email protected] to request their secure PIN.

"The Board of Pardons and Parole is committed to doing everything we can to ensure that victims’ voices are heard,” said Blake Hills, Board Chair. “MyVoice is more than just a software update; it reflects the Board’s long-term commitment to empowering survivors to participate in the process on their own terms."