Criminal Justice Today -- Chapter 12 Key Terms

Intensive probation supervision (IPS)

A form of probation supervision involving frequent face-to-face contact between the probationer and the probation officer.

Probation revocation

A court order taking away a convicted offender's probationary status and usually withdrawing the conditional freedom associated with that status in response to a violation of the conditions of probation.

Restitution

A court requirement that an accused or convicted offender pay money or provide services to the victim of the crime or provide services to the community.

Revocation hearing

A hearing held before a legally constituted hearing body (such as a parole board) to determine whether a parolee or probationer has violated the conditions and requirements of his or her parole or probation.

Home confinement

Home arrest. Individuals ordered confined to their homes are sometimes monitored electronically to ensure they do not leave during the hours of confinement. Absence from the home during working hours is often permitted.

Parole (probation) violation

An act or a failure to act by a parolee (or a probationer) that does not conform to the conditions and his or her parole (or probation).

Medical parole

An early release option under which an inmate who is deemed "low risk" due to a serious physical or mental health condition is released from prison earlier than he or she might have been under normal circumstances.

Conditions of parole (probation)

The general and special limits imposed on an offender who is released on parole (or probation). General conditions tend to be fixed by state statute, while special conditions are mandated by the sentencing authority (court or board) and take into consideration the background of the offender and the circumstances of the offense.

Split sentence

A sentence explicitly requiring the convicted offender to serve a period of confinement in a local, state, or federal facility, followed by a period of probation.

Probation

A sentence of imprisonment that is suspended. Also, the conditional freedom granted by a judicial officer to a convicted offender, as long as the person meets certain conditions of behavior.

Mixed sentence

A sentence that requires that a convicted offender serve weekends (or other specified periods of time) in a confinement facility (usually a jail) while undergoing probationary supervision in the community.

Community service

A sentencing alternative that requires offenders to spend at least part of their time working for a community agency.

Shock incarceration

A sentencing option that makes use of "boot camp" --type prisons to impress on convicted offenders the realities of prison life.

Parole board

A state paroling authority. Most states have parole boards that decide when an incarcerated offender is ready for conditional release. Some boards also function as revocation hearing panels.

Remote location monitoring

A supervision strategy that uses electronic technology to track offenders who have been sentenced to house arrest or who have been ordered to limit their movements while completing a sentence involving probation or parole.

Shock probation

The practice of sentencing offenders to prison, allowing them to apply for probationary release, and surprisingly permitting such release. Offenders who receive shock probation may not be aware that they will be released on probation and may expect to spend a much longer time behind bars.

Parole revocation

The administrative action of a paroling authority removing a person from parole status in response to a violation of lawfully required conditions of parole, including the prohibition against committing a new offense. Parole revocation usually results in the offender's return to prison.

Reentry

The managed return to the community of an individual released from prison. Also, the successful transitioning of a released inmate back into the community.

Caseload

The number of probation and parole clients assigned to one probation or parole officer for supervision.

Conditional release

The release of an inmate fro prison to community supervision under a set of conditions for remaining on parole. If a a condition is violate, the individual might be returned to prison or might face another sanction in the community.

Mandatory release

The release of an inmate from prison that is determined by statute or sentencing guidelines and is not decided by a parole board or other authority.

Discretionary release

The release of an inmate from prison to supervision that is decided by a parole board or other authority.

Parole

The status of a convicted offender who has been conditionally released from prison by a paroling authority before the expiration of his or her sentence, is placed under the supervision of a parole agency, and is required to observe the conditions of parole.

Community corrections

The use of a variety of officially ordered program-based sanctions that permit convicted offenders to remain in the community under conditional supervision as an alternative to an active prison sentence.

Intermediate sanctions

The use of split sentencing, shock probation or parole, shock incarceration, community service, intensive supervision, or home confinement in lieu of other, more traditional sanctions, such as imprisonment and fines.