Bandera de Estados Unidos

Un sitio oficial del Gobierno de Estados Unidos, Departamento de Justicia.

Community Corrections (Probation and Parole)

Description

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) maintains two annual data series, the Annual Probation Survey and the Annual Parole Survey, designed to provide national, federal, and jurisdiction-level data from administrative records of adults supervised in the community on probation or parole. Both data series also collect information on the characteristics of probationers and parolees.

BJS also maintains the annual data series the National Corrections Reporting Program, which is designed to provide data from—

  • administrative records on annual prison admissions and releases and on parole entries and discharges in participating jurisdictions
  • individual prisoner records on the characteristics and composition of the prison and parole populations.

Parole

The Bureau of Justice Statistics maintains the Annual Parole Survey, an annual data series designed to provide national, federal, and jurisdiction-level data from administrative records on adults supervised in the community on parole. Data include the total number of parolees supervised, by jurisdiction, on January 1 and December 31 of each year and the number of adults who entered and exited parole supervision during the year. Additional data include demographic characteristics, such as sex, race and Hispanic or Latino origin, and offense of parolees under supervision at the end of each year.

Probation

The Bureau of Justice Statistics maintains the Annual Probation Survey, an annual data series designed to provide national, federal, and jurisdiction-level data from administrative records on adults supervised in the community on probation. Data include the total number of probationers supervised, by jurisdiction, on January 1 and December 31 of each year and the number of adults who entered and exited probation supervision during the year. Additional data include demographic characteristics, such as sex, race and Hispanic or Latino origin, and offense of probationers under supervision at the end of each year.

Special Topics

Substance abuse
See Substance Abuse and Treatment of Adults on Probation, 1995 (NCJ 166611) 

Mental health
See Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers (NCJ 174463)

Prior abuse
See Prior Abuse Reported by Inmates and Probationers (NCJ 172879)

Terms & Definitions

Community corrections

The supervision of criminal offenders in the resident population, as opposed to confining offenders in secure correctional facilities. The two main types of community corrections supervision are probation and parole. Community corrections is also referred to as community supervision.

Custody

To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must physically hold that person in one of its facilities. A locality, state, or the BOP may hold inmates over whom a different government maintains jurisdiction.

Movement

In corrections, a movement refers to an admission or a release from a status, such as prisoner, parolee, or probationer. Unless specifically noted, a transfer between facilities does not count as a movement.

Parole

Parole refers to criminal offenders who are conditionally released from prison to serve the remaining portion of their sentence in the community. Prisoners may be released to parole by a parole board decision (discretionary release/discretionary parole), according to provisions of a statute (mandatory release/mandatory parole), through other types of post-custody conditional supervision, or as the result of a sentence to a term of supervised release. In the federal system, a term of supervised release is a sentence to a fixed period of supervision in the community that follows a sentence to a period of incarceration in federal prison, both of which are ordered at the time of sentencing by a federal judge. Parolees can have a number of different supervision statuses, including active supervision, which means they are required to regularly report to a parole authority in person, by mail, or by telephone. Some parolees may be on an inactive status, which means they are excluded from regularly reporting, and that could be due to a number of reasons. For instance, some may receive a reduction in supervision, possibly due to compliance or meeting all required conditions before the parole sentence terminates, and therefore may be moved from an active to inactive status. Other supervision statuses include parolees who have only financial conditions remaining, have absconded, or have active warrants. Parolees are also typically required to fulfill certain conditions and adhere to specific rules of conduct while in the community. Failure to comply with any of the conditions can result in a return to incarceration.

Probation

Probation refers to adult offenders whom courts place on supervision in the community through a probation agency, generally in lieu of incarceration. However, some jurisdictions do sentence probationers to a combined short-term incarceration sentence immediately followed by probation, which is referred to as a split sentence. Probationers can have a number of different supervision statuses, including active supervision, which means they are required to regularly report to a probation authority in person, by mail, or by telephone. Some probationers may be on an inactive status, which means they are excluded from regularly reporting, and that could be due to a number of reasons. For instance, some probationers may be placed on inactive status immediately because the severity of the offense was minimal or some may receive a reduction in supervision and therefore may be moved from an active to inactive status. Other supervision statuses include probationers who have only financial conditions remaining, have absconded, or have active warrants. In many instances, while on probation, offenders are required to fulfill certain conditions of their supervision (e.g., payment of fines, fees or court costs, and participation in treatment programs) and adhere to specific rules of conduct while in the community. Failure to comply with any conditions can result in incarceration.

Total correctional population

Total correctional population is the population of persons incarcerated, either in a prison or a jail, and persons supervised in the community, either on probation or parole.