GILLETTE, J.
This case arises out of a challenge to an order of the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision (the Board) that advanced an inmate’s scheduled parole release date. The order effectively prevented the inmate’s discharge from prison under the statutory “good-time” scheme. The inmate objected to the order and sought judicial review. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the order violated the constitutional prohibition against
ex post facto
laws because it applied a statute that denies to prison inmates any right to refuse parole to an inmate who committed offenses before enactment of that statute.
Bollinger v. Board of Parole,
142 Or App 81, 87-88, 920 P2d 111 (1996).
The Board petitioned this court for review of that decision. We accepted review to consider the Board’s argument that it
always
had authority to order an unwilling inmate onto parole and that, consequently, the Board’s application of ORS 144.245(3) to the inmate could have no
ex post facto
effect. We hold that, until the enactment of ORS 144.245(3), a prison inmate could refuse parole, and the Board had no authority to override that refusal. We therefore affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.
The following facts are not in dispute. The inmate was convicted of first-degree sodomy in October 1985 for conduct that occurred between November 1984 and February 1985. He received a 15-year indeterminate sentence with a five-year minimum term of incarceration. Shortly after he entered prison, the Board set his parole release date at October 26, 1990. Later, the Board deferred that release date by 12 months, based on a finding that the inmate suffered from an extreme emotional disturbance. In June 1991, when the Board again considered the inmate’s case, it refused to set a parole date, noting that he had refused to participate in a psychological evaluation. Later in the same order, however, the Board directed that the inmate be released on parole two days before his good-time date. At the time of the order, the
Department of Corrections (the Department) had assigned the inmate a tentative good-time date of October 27, 1995, based on the requirements of ORS 421.120(1).
On several occasions after the issuance of the June 1991 order, the Department informed the Board that the inmate’s projected good-time date had advanced because he had earned additional meritorious good time. On each such occasion, the Board issued an order advancing the inmate’s release date to two days before the updated good-time date— ultimately, to June 27,1994. With its last release-date order, the Board indicated that the inmate would remain on supervised parole status until the expiration of his sentence.
The inmate requested administrative review of the last release-date order, arguing that the order effectively nullified his accumulated good time and extended his period of supervision beyond that which was in effect when he committed his crime. When the Board denied relief, the inmate sought review (on March 31, 1994) in the Court of Appeals under ORS 144.335. After the case was argued but before that court issued a decision, the Board withdrew the challenged order and issued an amended order. The amended order differed from the original order in two significant respects: (1) it provided for a minimum supervision period of only 12 months; and (2) it designated the inmate as a predatory sex offender under
former
ORS 181.507 (1993).
The inmate again sought administrative review. When the Board again denied relief, he filed an amended petition for judicial review under ORS 144.335,
on July 26, 1995, challenging both the imposition of parole and the predatory sex offender designation.
The Court of Appeals reversed. That court first considered, and then rejected, the inmate’s contention that the Board lacked statutory authority to advance a parole date for
the purpose of avoiding a good-time release. However, it concluded that the inmate had a right to refuse parole under the statutes that were in effect at the time of his crimes and, therefore, that applying ORS 144.245(3) to the inmate to prevent his discharge on his good-time date increased the total time that the state has supervisory control over him, thereby violating the constitutional prohibition against
ex post facto
laws.
Bollinger,
142 Or App at 87-88. The Board seeks our review of that decision.
The Board argues that this case presents no
ex post facto
problem because the inmate had no more right to refuse parole at the time of his crimes than he did after ORS 144.245(3) was enacted. In so arguing, the Board acknowledges that no statute expressly precluded an inmate from refusing parole before the enactment of ORS 144.245(3) in 1985. However, the Board contends that the pre-1985 statutes nevertheless establish that it could order an inmate on parole without regard to his or her wishes.
Ultimately, the Board’s petition poses the following question: Before the enactment of ORS 144.245(3), was a prison inmate entitled to reject the Board’s decision to release him or her on parole? That is a question of statutory construction, to be analyzed according to the framework set out in
PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries,
317 Or 606, 859 P2d 1143 (1993).
PGE
instructs us that, in attempting to determine what the legislature intended, we first must consider text and context.
Id.
at 610-11. We thus begin by examining the text and context of the parole statutes that existed at the time of the inmate’s crimes, to see if the legislature can be said to have addressed the question before us.
The Board suggests that ORS 144.270
is dispositive of the question. That statute provides, in part:
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GILLETTE, J.
This case arises out of a challenge to an order of the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision (the Board) that advanced an inmate’s scheduled parole release date. The order effectively prevented the inmate’s discharge from prison under the statutory “good-time” scheme. The inmate objected to the order and sought judicial review. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the order violated the constitutional prohibition against
ex post facto
laws because it applied a statute that denies to prison inmates any right to refuse parole to an inmate who committed offenses before enactment of that statute.
Bollinger v. Board of Parole,
142 Or App 81, 87-88, 920 P2d 111 (1996).
The Board petitioned this court for review of that decision. We accepted review to consider the Board’s argument that it
always
had authority to order an unwilling inmate onto parole and that, consequently, the Board’s application of ORS 144.245(3) to the inmate could have no
ex post facto
effect. We hold that, until the enactment of ORS 144.245(3), a prison inmate could refuse parole, and the Board had no authority to override that refusal. We therefore affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.
The following facts are not in dispute. The inmate was convicted of first-degree sodomy in October 1985 for conduct that occurred between November 1984 and February 1985. He received a 15-year indeterminate sentence with a five-year minimum term of incarceration. Shortly after he entered prison, the Board set his parole release date at October 26, 1990. Later, the Board deferred that release date by 12 months, based on a finding that the inmate suffered from an extreme emotional disturbance. In June 1991, when the Board again considered the inmate’s case, it refused to set a parole date, noting that he had refused to participate in a psychological evaluation. Later in the same order, however, the Board directed that the inmate be released on parole two days before his good-time date. At the time of the order, the
Department of Corrections (the Department) had assigned the inmate a tentative good-time date of October 27, 1995, based on the requirements of ORS 421.120(1).
On several occasions after the issuance of the June 1991 order, the Department informed the Board that the inmate’s projected good-time date had advanced because he had earned additional meritorious good time. On each such occasion, the Board issued an order advancing the inmate’s release date to two days before the updated good-time date— ultimately, to June 27,1994. With its last release-date order, the Board indicated that the inmate would remain on supervised parole status until the expiration of his sentence.
The inmate requested administrative review of the last release-date order, arguing that the order effectively nullified his accumulated good time and extended his period of supervision beyond that which was in effect when he committed his crime. When the Board denied relief, the inmate sought review (on March 31, 1994) in the Court of Appeals under ORS 144.335. After the case was argued but before that court issued a decision, the Board withdrew the challenged order and issued an amended order. The amended order differed from the original order in two significant respects: (1) it provided for a minimum supervision period of only 12 months; and (2) it designated the inmate as a predatory sex offender under
former
ORS 181.507 (1993).
The inmate again sought administrative review. When the Board again denied relief, he filed an amended petition for judicial review under ORS 144.335,
on July 26, 1995, challenging both the imposition of parole and the predatory sex offender designation.
The Court of Appeals reversed. That court first considered, and then rejected, the inmate’s contention that the Board lacked statutory authority to advance a parole date for
the purpose of avoiding a good-time release. However, it concluded that the inmate had a right to refuse parole under the statutes that were in effect at the time of his crimes and, therefore, that applying ORS 144.245(3) to the inmate to prevent his discharge on his good-time date increased the total time that the state has supervisory control over him, thereby violating the constitutional prohibition against
ex post facto
laws.
Bollinger,
142 Or App at 87-88. The Board seeks our review of that decision.
The Board argues that this case presents no
ex post facto
problem because the inmate had no more right to refuse parole at the time of his crimes than he did after ORS 144.245(3) was enacted. In so arguing, the Board acknowledges that no statute expressly precluded an inmate from refusing parole before the enactment of ORS 144.245(3) in 1985. However, the Board contends that the pre-1985 statutes nevertheless establish that it could order an inmate on parole without regard to his or her wishes.
Ultimately, the Board’s petition poses the following question: Before the enactment of ORS 144.245(3), was a prison inmate entitled to reject the Board’s decision to release him or her on parole? That is a question of statutory construction, to be analyzed according to the framework set out in
PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries,
317 Or 606, 859 P2d 1143 (1993).
PGE
instructs us that, in attempting to determine what the legislature intended, we first must consider text and context.
Id.
at 610-11. We thus begin by examining the text and context of the parole statutes that existed at the time of the inmate’s crimes, to see if the legislature can be said to have addressed the question before us.
The Board suggests that ORS 144.270
is dispositive of the question. That statute provides, in part:
“(1) The State Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision, in releasing a person on parole, shall specify in writing the conditions of the parole and a copy of such conditions shall be given to the person paroled.
“(2) The board shall determine, and may at any time modify, the conditions of parole, which may include, among other conditions, that the parolee
shall:
“(a)
Accept the parole granted subject to all terms and conditions specified by the board.
(Emphasis added.) The Board contends that the emphasized wording indicates that inmates were required to accept whatever parole the Board granted.
The Board appears to acknowledge the existence of an alternative construction — that the mandatory wording pertains to the inmate’s acceptance of
the terms and conditions
that the Board might attach to a grant of parole,
i.e.,
inmates must accept such conditions as a package, rather than attempting to pick and choose from among them. However, the Board contends that, properly construed, the statute authorizes the Board to require acceptance of the parole
itself.
The Board argues that the correctness of that latter construction becomes evident when the provision is read in the context of Oregon Laws 1973, chapter 694, the larger statute in which the legislature originally enacted ORS 144.270. In that regard, the Board notes that sections four, five, and six of that 1973 enactment set out various factors that the Board was permitted or required to consider in making parole decisions. Or Laws 1973, ch 694, §§ 4-6. Those factors, the Board notes, relate to issues such as public safety, rehabilitation, and deterrence, and do not accord any weight to the preferences of inmates.
We agree with the inmate, however, that the Board’s suggested reading of the statute is highly unlikely. By its express terms, ORS 144.270(2) is directed to the determination and modification of
conditions
of parole. It permits the Board to
condition
parole upon the inmate’s acceptance of the entire package of the Board’s conditions. Even if an inmate might, be said to have failed to satisfy that precondition by refusing to accept the entire package, that is still a far cry from expressing an intent that the Board be allowed to compel parole in the first instance.
Neither is the Board’s construction of ORS 144.270(2) aided by the various related sections of the 1973 enactment upon which it relies. Those provisions do little to shore up the Board’s theory. In particular, there is nothing inherently inconsistent in a scheme that requires the Board to ignore inmate preferences in its own parole calculations but still permits the inmate to refuse whatever terms of parole that the Board might choose to offer.
We return, then, to our examination of the text and context of the parole statutes for evidence of the legislature’s intent with respect to the question at hand. In our view, there is one statute, ORS 144.050 (1983), that bears strongly on that question. That statute grants to the Board, in general terms, the power to parole prison inmates:
“Subject to applicable laws, the State Board of Parole may
authorize any inmate,
who is committed to the legal and physical custody of the Corrections Division
to go upon parole
subject to being arrested and detained under written order of the board or as provided in ORS 144.350.”
It is significant, we think, that the legislature framed the Board’s power to grant parole in terms of “authorizing] an[ ] inmate * * * to go upon parole.” In ordinary parlance, “authorizing” an act is something quite different from commanding or ordering it. “Authorize” means to empower, sanction, or formally endow
another
with a right to act.
The word connotes choice on the part of the person authorized — to act or refrain from acting upon the authority granted. Thus, in granting to the Board the power to
authorize
inmates to go out upon parole, ORS 144.050 (1983) appears to contemplate that inmates will take an active role in determining whether that will occur. Although the statute
charges the Board with determining whether to permit an inmate to go out upon parole, the
inmate
is left to act or refrain from acting upon that permission.
The foregoing understanding of ORS 144.050 is confirmed, in our view, by the use of the term “parole” in ORS 144.050 and its antecedents, as well as other statutes that define the Board’s obligations and authority. Historically, a parole was a promise, especially a promise to fulfill certain conditions in exchange for release from captivity or imprisonment. Although, now, “parole” also is used to refer to the release from imprisonment itself,
its promissory connotations still exist.
Thus, for instance, almost all the authorities that have considered the question have concluded that a parole requires the inmate’s acceptance, including his or her affirmative promise to honor its conditions.
See, e.g., Ex Parte Peterson,
14 Cal 2d 82, 92 P2d 890 (1939) (illustrating proposition).
The upshot of the foregoing discussion is that, when the inmate committed his crimes, ORS 144.050 provided, as it does now, that the Board “may authorize any inmate * * * to go out upon parole.” That wording expressed a legislative intent that the Board would determine whether, when, and on what conditions an inmate may go out upon parole and that inmates would have a choice whether to accept and act upon the Board’s decision. The 1985 Legislature expressed an entirely different intent when it adopted ORS 144.245(3), to the effect that inmates
cannot
reject parole. But, until the legislature adopted that statute, the law permitted an inmate to refuse parole and did not empower the Board to command parole in the face of such a refusal.
The Board suggests that a contraiy intent may be derived from a more holistic analysis of the parole statutes that were in effect at the time of the inmate’s crimes. In that regard, the Board points to persistent themes in those statutes — the Board’s broad authority to decide the fate of inmates,
i.e.,
to set, ORS 144.120 (1983), to advance, ORS 144.122, to defer, ORS 144.125(3) (1983), and to refuse to set, ORS 144.120(4) (1983), release dates and to set the conditions of parole; its obligation to use its powers to protect the public and deter crime; and its more specific obligation to insure that all inmates spend at least six months on supervised parole after their release from prison,
former
ORS 144.310(1) and (2) (1983). The Board contends that, in view of those strong and persistent themes, it is impossible to believe that the legislature intended that inmates be permitted to nullify the Board’s decision to grant parole by refusing to accept that parole.
Assuming that the foregoing statutes are relevant context for construing ORS 144.050, we are not persuaded that they assist the Board. All are about what the Board may (or should) do in particular circumstances. None negates the
apparent thrust of ORS 144.050, as we have discussed it above. Moreover, to the extent that the Board is suggesting that that apparent meaning is too irrational to reflect the legislature’s true intent, we disagree. One might argue about the merits of such a policy choice, but there is nothing inherently irrational in endowing the Board with broad authority to determine whether, when, and under what conditions an inmate may be paroled, while at the same time requiring voluntaiy acceptance of the parole and its conditions by an inmate.
Finally, the Board contends that, even if it could not require the inmate to go upon
parole
against his wishes under the statutes in effect at the time of his crime, it could have required him to serve the
equivalent
of a six-month period of parole, to begin upon his release on his good-time date, without offending ex
post facto
principles. In so arguing, the Board relies on
former
ORS 421.120(3) (1983), which appeared as part of the good-time statute and provided:
“Except when granted by the State Board of Parole under ORS 144.310, a discharge of an inmate from a sentence imposed after July 21,1981, upon a date determined under this section [i.e., a good-time date], shall be upon the condition that the inmate be subject to a period of supervision in the same manner as a paroled inmate, except that the maximum period of supervision shall be six months and upon violation of the terms imposed upon the conditional discharge the maximum period of reincarceration shall be 90 days. However, the period of supervision, reincarceration or both shall in no case cause the length of the inmate’s term to exceed the maximum term imposed by the court.”
We agree that
former
ORS 421.120(3) (1983) was in effect at the time of the inmate’s crimes and that it permitted (perhaps even required) the Board to impose a
limited
period of parole-like supervision on inmates who remained in prison until their good-time dates.
We also agree that, while that statute was in effect, the Board could order a maximum of six months of supervision without regard to any decision by an
inmate to refuse parole, without offending the prohibition on
ex post facto
laws.
That being said, we do not see how the existence of
former
ORS 421.120(3) (1983) assists the Board in this case. That statute might have given the Board the power to impose
six
months of supervision on the inmate against his wishes, but it could not justify the 12-month period of supervision that the Board imposed in the order at issue.
We conclude that, when the inmate in this case committed his crimes, an inmate could refuse parole and remain in prison in the hope of achieving unconditional discharge under the good-time statute. The Court of Appeals was correct, therefore, that ORS 144.245(3) represents a change in the law, denying to prison inmates a right to refuse parole that they previously had enjoyed.
The Court of Appeals concluded that: (1) ORS 144.245(3) withdrew a right to refuse parole that inmates previously had enjoyed; and (2) application of that statute to the inmate amounted to an
ex post facto
violation, because it increased the total amount of time that the state would have supervisory control over him. We agree with the first proposition and have no occasion to inquire into the second.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. The order of the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Board for further proceedings.