Criminal Justice Today: Chapter 12

Intensive Probation Supervision (IPS)

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

Probation Revocation

A court order taking away a convicted offender's probationary status and usually withdrawing the conditions 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 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

House 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 probationer) that does not conform to the conditions of 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 release on parole (or probation). General conditions tend to be fixed by state statue, whereas 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.

Reentry Courts

"Specialized courts that help reduce recidivism and improve public safety through the use of judicial oversight to apply graduated sanctions and positive reinforcement, to marshal rescues to support the prisoner's reintegration, and to promote positive behavior by the returning prisoners."

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 weeks (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 of 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. Also called parole commission.

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 moment while completing a sentence involving probation or parole.

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 related inmate back into the community. Also called prisoner reentry.

Caseload

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

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.

Conditional Release

The release by executive decision of a prisoner from a federal or state correctional facility who has not served his or her full sentence and whose freedom is contingent on obeying specified rules of behavior.

Discretionary Release

The release from confinement or supervision or to release from a legal status imposing an obligation upon the subject person.

Mandatory Release

The release of an inmate from prison that is determined by statue or sentencing guidelines and is not 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 over 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. Also called community-based corrections.

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. Also called alternative sanctions.