The appointees who meet, review files and decide whether to grant freedom to state inmates before their assigned prison terms are completed play a necessary but thankless role in Mississippi.

In a recent session, the parole board, which deliberates privately, decided to again deny release to Arthur L. Stevenson. We say thanks. It was the right decision.

Stevenson, jailed since 1974 for using a butcher knife to murder a defenseless Warren County law enforcement officer, is now 58. Frankly, he probably poses no future threat to society.

But after twice being sentenced to death, then to life without parole and currently to life behind bars, it is appropriate that he remain in custody.

It was one of the most vicious crimes ever when, 35 years ago on the morning of July 6, Stevenson chose to get his weapon from the kitchen and go to the office of the Warren County Jail where he killed A.H. “Holly” Koerper, then 72 years old and on duty alone. Stevenson murdered to effect his freedom that morning, rather than finish, as a trusty, the one-year term he was serving for a petty theft.

The Mississippi Parole Board gave Stevenson a one-year offset, meaning his file will work back to the top of the stack in 12 months.

There should be another denial. People who commit crimes, as Stevenson did, showing no conscience may or may not become rehabilitated and harmless. But the punishment they are assigned should be completed. The debt they owe communities can never be repaid.