Probationer in the United States

Introduction: Probation in General

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 only have financial conditions remaining, have absconded, or who 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, 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.

Statistics

An estimated 4.65 million adults were on probation, parole, or some other form of post-prison supervision at year end 2015 in the United States. This was a decrease of about 62,300 offenders from year end 2014 and the lowest number of adults under community supervision since 2000.

Probation is a court-ordered period of correctional supervision in the community and is generally used as an alternative to incarceration. Parole is a period of conditional supervised release in the community following a prison term. Probationers accounted for the majority (81%) of adults under community supervision, and the probation population was more than four times the parole population.

A decrease in the probation population (down by about 78,700 offenders) contributed to all of the decline in the adult community corrections population from 2014 to 2015.

Entries onto and exits off of probation declined by more than 4% from 2014 (4.19 million) to 2015 (4.01 million). Probation entries declined by about 5% during this period, down from 2.07 million to 1.97 million. Probation exits declined by about 4% from 2014 (2.13 million) to 2015
(2.04 million).

Since 2005, the rate of exits from probation has remained consistent, ranging from 52 to 55 per 100 probationers. The completion rate (turnover due to completing the term of supervision either through a full-term completion or early discharge) was 33 exits per 100 during 2015, which was similar to the rate observed in 2005 (32 per 100) and down slightly from rates that had been consistent since 2009 (35 to 36 per 100).

While the majority of probationers were male, the percentage of females on probation increased from 2005 (23%) to 2015 (25%). In both 2015 and 2005, more than half (55%) of probationers were non-Hispanic white, 30% were non-Hispanic black, and 13% were Hispanic or Latino. During that same period, probationers supervised for a felony offense increased from 50% in 2005 to 57% in 2015.

Resources

Comments

3 responses to “Probationer”

International

May 10, 2017

Probationers often spend some period of time in jail (and, in some places, prison) before release to probation.

International

May 10, 2017

Some high-incarceration U.S. states under-report misdemeanor probationers supervised through local channels, which exaggerates the disconnect between probation and incarceration rates.

International

May 10, 2017

Probationers in this country are often provided with few supportive services that would help to address these challenges, and many supervisees’ pre-existing histories of trauma, addiction, unstable housing arrangements, and under-employment.

Probationer

Probationer in the United States

Introduction: Probation in General

Statistics

Resources

See Also

Further Reading (Articles)

Comments

3 responses to “Probationer”

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