Since 1994, just about half of the convicted murderers in Arizona who weren’t either sentenced to natural life in prison or death were given sentences of life in prison with a chance of parole.

That chance would come after 25 or 35 years, depending upon whether the victim was an adult or a child.

The big problem with that sentence? It hasn’t existed in Arizona law since a change that took effect on Jan. 1, 1994.

Michael Kiefer has written an investigative piece about parole for azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic.