BY JOHN CHAMBLISS

Ryan Sneed makes two trips to Columbia each year with his uncle to tell the state parole board why his father's killers should remain in prison.

The four-hour round trip will turn into 30 minutes for the Mount Pleasant family at the next parole hearing when the two men address a live-feed video camera linked to the parole board's hearing room in Columbia.

"It is just a huge thing for us," Sneed said. "It will be less expensive, and we won't have to miss work."

In addition to saving money, advocates of videoconferencing say a shorter trip will reduce stress and allow the disabled and poor the opportunity to attend hearings.

"It is a pretty intimidating process," said

Joanna Katz, a rape victim from Charleston who has made the trip for nine years. "It doesn't get any easier."

Katz pushed for the videoconferencing for years before a probation reform bill was signed by Gov. Mark Sanford in 2004.

Felons already address the parole board by video link from where they are being held.

The videoconferencing will serve 10 counties from the Georgia state line to Georgetown. No one has registered yet for the program, which begins Wednesday at the National Guard Armory on Cross County Road in North Charleston.

Each year, parole services sends out 18,000 notifications to victims of crimes. Of those, about 2,000 victims drive to Columbia for hearings.

Anne Wolf, director of victim services for the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, said that she hopes to have more victims at hearings.

Residents in other parts of the state should have the opportunity to use videoconferencing in about a year, said agency Director Samuel Glover.

Glover said he hopes to open three additional locations at National Guard Armories in Greenville, Rock Hill, and the Florence area.

A $42,139 federal grant funded new staff and computer equipment for a year. Next year, the state will pay for the program, Glover said.

Local crime victims will still have the opportunity to drive to Columbia to speak to the board in person.

Not making an early morning drive and canceling work for the day will be a relief for Sneed and his uncle, Kevin Sneed.

Sneed's father, Ralph Dwain Sneed, died in 1992 of a single gunshot wound to the chest during a robbery.

Mark Washington and Clifford Palmer were convicted on manslaughter charges. Each year, the Sneeds attend separate parole hearings for Washington and Palmer.

Contact John Chambliss at 937-5573 or jchambliss@postandcourier.com.