Probation and Parole
Chapter 8
Probation and Parole
Most of the correctional population of the United States—those under the supervision of correctional authorities—are walking about freely. They are people on probation or parole. According to Lauren E. Glaze and Thomas P. Bonczar of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2005 (November 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus05.pdf), 4.2 million people were on probation, 784,000 were on parole, and 2.2 million were in jail or prison in 2005. For every person behind bars, more than two people convicted of crimes were on the street. Probationers and parolees, however, were still under official supervision, and most had to satisfy requirements placed on them as a condition of freedom or of early release from correctional facilities.
A probationer is someone who has been convicted of a crime and sentenced—but the person's sentence has been suspended on condition that he or she behaves in the manner ordered by the court. Probation sometimes follows a brief period of incarceration; more often it is granted by the court immediately.
A parolee is an individual who has served a part of his or her sentence in jail and prison but, because of good behavior or legislative mandate, has been granted freedom before the sentence is fully served. The sentence remains in effect, however, and the parolee continues to be under the jurisdiction of a parole board. If the person fails to live up to the conditions of the release, the parolee may be confined again.
Glaze and Bonczar indicate that since 1995 the number of people on probation has grown by 35.2%, with an average annual increase of 2.5%. The increase from 2004 to 2005 was 0.5%, less than half the average growth rate. Between 1995 and 2005 the number of people on parole increased from 679,000 to 784,000; this is an increase of 15.4%, with an annual average increase of 1.4%.
PROBATION
Characteristics of Probationers
Glaze and Bonczar report that those released by the courts for probation are deemed to be the least dangerous among those arrested and the most likely to stay clear of the justice system in the future, even though only 59% of those on probation appeared to succeed in 2005. (See Table 8.1.) Whereas all people in prison serve sentences for felonies, only 50% of probationers were felons in 2005; 49% had been sentenced for misdemeanors and the remainder for other infractions. In 1995, 54% had felony sentences and 44% had misdemeanors.
According to Glaze and Bonczar, 76% of those entering probation in 2005 did so without any incarceration; 59% of those leaving probation had completed their probation successfully—a far higher percentage than those leaving parole (45%). Among those leaving probation in 2005, whether or not they completed probation successfully, 16% returned to incarceration or were incarcerated for the first time. In contrast, 38% of those leaving parole were put behind bars again for failure to live up to the rules or committing a new offense. The single largest category of serious offense committed by probationers was a drug violation (28%), followed by driving while intoxicated (15%).
In comparing Glaze and Bonczar's data to that in Prisoners in 2005 (November 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/p05.pdf) by Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck of the BJS, a larger proportion of probationers were female (23% versus 7% of state and federal prisoners) and white (55% versus 34.6% of those in prison) in 2005. A smaller proportion of probationers were African-American (30% of probationers versus 39.5% of prisoners) and Hispanic (13% of probationers versus 20.2% of prisoners).
Geographical Distribution
Glaze and Bonczar note that, nationally, 1,858 per 100,000 adults were under probation in 2005, but rates varied considerably from state to state and from region to region. In broad terms populations of probationers paralleled the general population with some differences. The South and Midwest had proportionally more probationers. In the South 2,067 per 100,000 adults were on probation, and in the Midwest the rate was 1,950 per 100,000. (See Table 8.2.) The West (1,546 per 100,000) and Northeast (1,658 per 100,000) had proportionately fewer probationers.
TABLE 8.1 | |||
Characteristics of adults on probation, 1995, 2000, and 2005 | |||
Characteristic | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 |
Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Gender | |||
Male | 79% | 78% | 77% |
Female | 21 | 22 | 23 |
Race/Hispanic origin | |||
Whitea | 53% | 54% | 55% |
Blacka | 31 | 31 | 30 |
Hispanic | 14 | 13 | 13 |
American Indian/Alaska Nativea | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Asian/Native Hawaiian/other | |||
Pacific Islandera | — | 1 | 1 |
Status of probation | |||
Direct imposition | 48% | 56% | 57% |
Split sentence | 15 | 11 | 10 |
Sentence suspended | 26 | 25 | 22 |
Imposition suspended | 6 | 7 | 9 |
Other | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Status of supervision | |||
Active | 79% | 76% | 70% |
Inactive | 8 | 9 | 9 |
Absconder | 9 | 9 | 10 |
Supervised out of state | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Residential/other treatment program | N/A | N/A | 1 |
Warrant status | N/A | N/A | 6 |
Other | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Type of offense | |||
Felony | 54% | 52% | 50% |
Misdemeanor | 44 | 46 | 49 |
Other infractions | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Most serious offenseb | |||
Sexual assault | N/A | N/A | 3% |
Domestic violence | N/A | N/A | 6 |
Other assault | N/A | N/A | 10 |
Burglary | N/A | N/A | 5 |
Larceny/theft | N/A | N/A | 12 |
Fraud | N/A | N/A | 6 |
Drug law violations | N/A | 24 | 28 |
Driving while intoxicated | 16 | 18 | 15 |
Minor traffic offenses | N/A | 6 | 5 |
Adults entering probation | |||
Without incarceration | 72% | 79% | 76% |
With incarceration | 13 | 16 | 18 |
Other types | 15 | 5 | 6 |
Table 8.2 shows these data for all fifty states and the District of Columbia in 2005. Texas had the highest number of probationers of any state at the end of 2005 (430,312), followed by Georgia (422,848), California (388,260), Florida (277,831), and Ohio (239,036). Mississippi (17.1%), West Virginia (9.6%), Wyoming (9.2%), and Kentucky (8%) had the greatest increases in probationers in 2005. Rhode Island (3,091 per 100,000 population), Minnesota (2,988), Delaware (2,828), and Texas (2,580) had the highest rates of probationers to population. The states with the fewest probationers per 100,000 adult U.S. residents were New Hampshire (457), West Virginia (533), Utah (578), and Nevada (709).
TABLE 8.1 | |||
Characteristics of adults on probation, 1995, 2000, and 2005 [continued] | |||
Characteristic | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 |
Note: For every characteristic there were persons of unknown type. Detail may not sum to total because of rounding. | |||
—Less than 0.5%. | |||
N/A Not available. | |||
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin. | |||
bDoes not include all offenses; therefore, will not add to 100%. | |||
cIn 1995 absconder and other unsuccessful statuses were reported among other. | |||
Source: Lauren E. Glaze and Thomas P. Bonczar, "Table 3. Characteristics of Adults on Probation, 2005," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2005, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus05.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | |||
Adults leaving probation | |||
Successful completions | 62% | 60% | 59% |
Incarceration | 21 | 15 | 16 |
With new sentence | 5 | 3 | 4 |
With the same sentence | 13 | 8 | 7 |
Unknown | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Absconderc | N/A | 3 | 3 |
Discharge to custody, detainer, or warrant | N/A | 1 | 1 |
Other unsuccessfulc | N/A | 11 | 13 |
Death | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Other | 16 | 9 | 7 |
Federal Probation Violations
The BJS reports in the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004 (December 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cfjs04.pdf) that probation can be a successful sentencing approach. In fiscal year (FY) 2004, 82.3% of federal probationers successfully completed the terms of their probation. (See Table 8.3.) Of the 15.9% who did violate probation, most had either committed a new crime (5.4% of all probationers) or used drugs (3.1%). Those convicted of violent, weapon, and immigration offenses were more likely to end probation by committing new crimes (8.8%, 8.5%, and 7.7%, respectively) than probationers convicted of property (4.6%) or drug (3.9%) offenses.
Probation Officers
Community corrections has a cost to the community—although it is lower than the cost of housing and feeding prisoners and providing them with health care. A major part of that cost is the employment of skilled probation officers to supervise probationers.
According to Ann L. Pastore and Kathleen Maguire of the Utilization of Criminal Justice Statistics Project, in the Source-book of Criminal Justice Statistics 2003 (2005, http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/), in 1975 the U.S. government employed 1,377 probation officers to supervise 64,261 federal probationers, a ratio of 1 officer per 47 probationers. (See Table 8.4.) By 2005, 4,585 officers supervised 112,931 probationers, yielding a ratio of almost 25 per officer. The federal government has been expending resources to lower the ratio of probationers to officers. Between 2000 and 2005 the number of probationers increased by 12%, whereas the number of officers increased by 15%.
TABLE 8.2 | ||||||
Adults on probation, by region and jurisdiction, 2005 | ||||||
Region and jurisdiction | Probation population, 1/1/2005 | 2005 | Probation population, 12/31/05 | Percent change, 2005 | Number on probation per 100,000 adult residents, 12/31/05 | |
Entries | Exits | |||||
U.S. total | 4,143,466 | 2,228,300 | 2,209,700 | 4,162,536 | 0.5% | 1,858 |
Federal | 28,602 | 12,135 | 14,402 | 26,719 | −6.6% | 12 |
State | 4,114,864 | 2,216,200 | 2,195,300 | 4,135,817 | 0.5 | 1,846 |
Northeast | 702,328 | 277,800 | 285,700 | 694,396 | −1.1% | 1,658 |
Connecticuta | 54,067 | 28,250 | 26,245 | 56,072 | 3.7 | 2,092 |
Maine | 8,907 | 4,890 | 5,677 | 8,120 | −8.8 | 776 |
Massachusettsa | 163,719 | 84,343 | 82,697 | 165,365 | 1.0 | 3,350 |
New Hampshire | 4,285 | 3,440 | 3,110 | 4,615 | * | 457 |
New Jersey | 143,315 | 45,136 | 49,360 | 139,091 | −2.9 | 2,117 |
New York | 124,853 | 34,644 | 40,472 | 119,025 | −4.7 | 810 |
Pennsylvaniaa, b | 167,366 | 67,300 | 67,100 | 167,561 | 0.1 | 1,741 |
Rhode Islanda | 26,085 | 5,410 | 5,882 | 25,613 | −1.8 | 3,091 |
Vermonta | 9,731 | 4,341 | 5,138 | 8,934 | −8.2 | 1,820 |
Midwest | 958,730 | 609,500 | 594,300 | 973,807 | 1.6% | 1,950 |
Illinoisa | 143,871 | 60,951 | 61,686 | 143,136 | −0.5 | 1,500 |
Indianaa | 121,675 | 98,681 | 99,342 | 121,014 | −0.5 | 2,583 |
Iowa | 22,408 | 15,829 | 14,833 | 23,404 | 4.4 | 1,018 |
Kansas | 14,439 | 19,755 | 19,184 | 15,010 | 4.0 | 723 |
Michigana, b | 176,630 | 130,200 | 128,300 | 178,609 | 1.1 | 2,350 |
Minnesota | 113,121 | 70,752 | 66,800 | 117,073 | 3.5 | 2,988 |
Missouri | 54,848 | 25,179 | 26,413 | 53,614 | −2.2 | 1,208 |
Nebraska | 17,994 | 15,330 | 14,856 | 18,468 | 2.6 | 1,387 |
North Dakota | 3,749 | 2,808 | 2,597 | 3,960 | 5.6 | 791 |
Ohioa, b | 230,758 | 141,300 | 133,000 | 239,036 | 3.6 | 2,745 |
South Dakota | 5,372 | 3,196 | 3,260 | 5,308 | −1.2 | 899 |
Wisconsin | 53,865 | 25,505 | 24,195 | 55,175 | 2.4 | 1,298 |
South | 1,667,198 | 908,800 | 894,600 | 1,681,455 | 0.9% | 2,067 |
Alabamaa | 36,799 | 14,039 | 11,843 | 38,995 | 6.0 | 1,121 |
Arkansas | 28,771 | 8,435 | 6,958 | 30,248 | 5.1 | 1,431 |
Delaware | 18,725 | 14,643 | 14,906 | 18,462 | −1.4 | 2,828 |
District of Columbiaa | 7,585 | 7,216 | 7,414 | 7,387 | −2.6 | 1,696 |
Floridaa, b | 278,606 | 240,000 | 240,800 | 277,831 | −0.3 | 2,002 |
Georgiaa, b, c | 423,547 | 215,500 | 216,200 | 422,848 | * | * |
Kentucky | 32,619 | 20,800 | 18,300 | 35,230 | 8.0 | 1,100 |
Louisiana | 38,231 | 13,772 | 13,695 | 38,308 | 0.2 | 1,133 |
Maryland | 76,676 | 38,282 | 39,365 | 75,593 | −1.4 | 1,793 |
Mississippi | 20,375 | 8,124 | 4,635 | 23,864 | 17.1 | 1,096 |
North Carolina | 111,537 | 62,157 | 62,068 | 111,626 | 0.1 | 1,693 |
Oklahomaa, b | 28,404 | 14,600 | 14,100 | 28,865 | 1.6 | 1,065 |
South Carolina | 38,941 | 14,768 | 14,360 | 39,349 | 1.0 | 1,212 |
Tennessea, b | 47,099 | 24,800 | 22,600 | 49,302 | 4.7 | 1,072 |
Texas | 428,836 | 181,333 | 179,857 | 430,312 | 0.3 | 2,580 |
Virginiaa | 43,470 | 27,078 | 24,959 | 45,589 | 4.9 | 788 |
West Virginiab | 6,977 | 3,200 | 2,500 | 7,646 | 9.6 | 533 |
West | 786,608 | 420,100 | 420,500 | 786,159 | −0.1% | 1,546 |
Alaska | 5,547 | 1,022 | 878 | 5,680 | 2.4 | 1,182 |
Arizonaa, b | 70,532 | 39,700 | 39,100 | 71,138 | 0.9 | 1,606 |
Californiaa | 384,852 | 195,343 | 191,935 | 388,260 | 0.9 | 1,462 |
Coloradoa, b | 57,779 | 29,900 | 31,000 | 56,623 | −2.0 | 1,613 |
Hawaiid | 16,113 | 6,236 | 5,524 | 16,825 | 4.4 | 1,693 |
Idahoa, e | 44,579 | 35,717 | 36,584 | 43,712 | * | * |
SUPERVISED RELEASE
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 created an alternative to parole and probation for federal offenders—supervised release—which occurs after an offender's term of imprisonment is completed. Following his or her release, an offender is sentenced to a period of supervision in the community. The act calls for supervised release to follow any term of imprisonment that exceeds one year or if required by a specific statute. The court may also order supervised release to follow imprisonment in any other case. Offenders on supervised release are supervised by probation officers. The BJS notes in the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004 that in FY 2004, 77,332 (or 70%) of federal offenders under community supervision were serving a term of supervised release. Most offenders sentenced to supervised release (41,681, or 54%) were convicted for drug offenses. Only 4,805 (or 6%) had been convicted of violent offenses.
TABLE 8.2 | ||||||
Adults on probation, by region and jurisdiction, 2005 [continued] | ||||||
Region and jurisdiction | Probation population, 1/1/2005 | 2005 | Probation population, 12/31/05 | Percent change, 2005 | Number on probation per 100,000 adult residents, 12/31/05 | |
Entries | Exits | |||||
Note: Because of nonresponse or incomplete data, the probation population for some jurisdictions on December 31, 2005, does not equal the population on January 1, plus entries, minus exits. | ||||||
*Not calculated. | ||||||
aSome oral data are estimated. | ||||||
bData for entries and exits were estimated for nonreporting agencies. | ||||||
cCounts include private agency cases and may overstate the number under supervision. | ||||||
dDue to a change in the state agency's record keeping procedures, data are not comparable to previous reports. | ||||||
eCounts include estimates for misdemeanors based on admissions. | ||||||
Source: Lauren E. Glaze and Thomas P. Bonczar, "Table 2. Adults on Probation, 2005," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2005, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus05.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | ||||||
Montanaa, b | 7,634 | 4,500 | 3,900 | 8,233 | 7.8 | 1,121 |
Nevada | 12,645 | 6,305 | 6,019 | 12,931 | 2.3 | 709 |
New Mexicoa, b | 17,725 | 8,500 | 7,500 | 18,706 | 5.5 | 1,287 |
Oregon | 43,324 | 17,852 | 16,323 | 44,853 | 3.5 | 1,597 |
Utah | 10,267 | 5,312 | 5,500 | 10,079 | −1.8 | 578 |
Washingtona, b, d | 111,193 | 66,900 | 73,800 | 104,293 | −6.2 | 2,155 |
Wyoming | 4,418 | 2,828 | 2,420 | 4,826 | 9.2 | 1,216 |
Table 8.5 shows that in FY 2004, 32,930 offenders terminated their supervised release. Most (62.1%) had not violated the terms of their release and successfully completed their sentence. Some 13.7% had violated their supervised release by committing a new crime and 7.2% had used drugs.
In the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, the BJS reports that in FY 2004 men were more likely to violate the terms of their supervised release than women; only 60% of men successfully completed their supervised release, compared with 74% of women. Of those sentenced to supervised release, the youngest (nineteen- and twenty-year-olds) and the least educated (less than high school) were the most likely to violate the terms of their sentence.
PAROLE
Trends in Parole
Discretionary parole is administered by parole boards. Their members examine prisoners' criminal histories and prison records and decide whether to release prisoners from incarceration. Since the mid-1990s several states have abolished discretionary parole in favor of mandatory parole. Mandatory parole is legislatively imposed at the state level and, with some exceptions, takes away parole boards' discretion. Mandatory parole provisions ensure that sentences for the same crime require incarceration for the same length of time. The prisoner can shorten his or her sentence only by good behavior—but time off for good behavior is also prohibited in some states. In some jurisdictions parole can only begin after prisoners have served 100% of their minimum sentences. Jeremy Travis and Sarah Lawrence of the Urban Institute report in Beyond the Prison Gates: The State of Parole in America (November 2002, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310583_Beyond_prison_gates.pdf) that the share of discretionary prison releases decreased from 65% in 1976 to 24% by 1999.
Travis and Lawrence indicate that even though states rely more and more on mandatory release dates to decide when to release prisoners, states have different prison release methods. Some states have cut back on parole supervision, releasing more prisoners directly to the community. Other states have aggressively enforced the conditions of parole, leading to the identification of more parole violations. In these states more parolees are being sent back to prison. States handle different types of offenses differently. Some allow victims or prosecutors to participate in release decisions; others do not. Many states still rely heavily on parole boards to make release decisions, whereas others no longer use parole boards and have mandatory release policies for all their prisoners.
According to Travis and Lawrence, most parole agencies now use drug testing to determine whether a parolee has kept his or her promise to remain drug free. In a number of states parole officers are being permitted to carry weapons. Furthermore, parolees in several jurisdictions are required to wear electronic bracelets so that officials can monitor their movement.
Glaze and Bonczar note that in 1995, 50% of adults who entered parole did so under discretionary parole; by 2005 discretionary paroles made up only 31% of the total. In 1995 mandatory parole accounted for 45% of all paroles; by 2005, 51% of those paroled were under a mandatory parole.
TABLE 8.3 | |||||||
Outcomes of probation supervision, by offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004 | |||||||
Most serious offense of conviction | Number of probation terminations | Percent of probation supervisions terminating with— | |||||
No violation | Technical violationsa | New crimeb | Administrative case closures | ||||
Drug use | Fugitive status | Other | |||||
All offenses | 15,721 | 82.3% | 3.1% | 2.2% | 5.2% | 5.4% | 1.8% |
Felonies | 8,251 | 84.9% | 2.8% | 1.7% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
Violent offenses | 171 | 69.6% | 1.8% | 5.8% | 11.7% | 8.8% | 2.3% |
Murderc | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Assault | 48 | 64.6 | 4.2 | 8.3 | 16.7 | 6.3 | 0.0 |
Robbery | 63 | 79.4 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 11.1 | 4.8 |
Sexual abusec | 41 | 53.7 | 2.4 | 7.3 | 24.4 | 9.8 | 2.4 |
Kidnapping | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Threats against the President | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Property offenses | 4,461 | 84.9% | 2.6% | 1.8% | 4.2% | 4.6% | 1.8% |
Fraudulent | 3,634 | 86.3% | 2.1% | 1.8 % | 3.7% | 4.4% | 1.6% |
Embezzlement | 346 | 93.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 0.3 |
Fraudc | 2,759 | 87.6 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 1.8 |
Forgery | 76 | 73.7 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 9.2 | 1.3 |
Counterfeiting | 453 | 74.6 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 1.5 |
Other | 827 | 79.1% | 4.8% | 1.8% | 6.2% | 5.3% | 2.8% |
Burglary | 23 | 56.5 | 13.0 | 0.0 | 21.7 | 8.7 | 0.0 |
Larcenyc | 676 | 77.8 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 2.8 |
Motor vehicle theft | 41 | 87.8 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 7.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Arson and explosives | 24 | 87.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 12.5 |
Transportation of stolen property | 49 | 95.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
Other property offensesc | 14 | 78.6 | 0.0 | 7.1 | 0.0 | 14.3 | 0.0 |
Drug offenses | 1,418 | 85.0% | 3.9% | 1.5% | 4.7% | 3.9% | 0.9% |
Trafficking | 1,284 | 85.3 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 0.8 |
Possession and other drug offenses | 134 | 82.8 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
Public-order offenses | 1,431 | 89.9% | 1.5% | 1.0% | 3.4% | 2.4% | 1.9% |
Regulatory | 604 | 88.7% | 2.6% | 1.7% | 3.8% | 2.0% | 1.2% |
Agriculture | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Antitrust | 11 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Food and drug | 32 | 87.5 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
Transportation | 26 | 88.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 0.0 |
Civil rights | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Communications | 37 | 97.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Custom laws | 27 | 81.5 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Postal laws | 46 | 82.6 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 4.3 |
Other regulatory offenses | 416 | 88.7 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 1.0 |
Other | 827 | 90.8% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 2.4% |
Tax law violationsc | 270 | 94.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
Bribery | 79 | 97.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
Perjury, contempt, and intimidation | 60 | 86.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 1.7 | 3.3 |
National defense | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Escape | 27 | 92.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 0.0 | 3.7 |
Racketeering and extortion | 158 | 93.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 3.2 |
Gambling | 35 | 97.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 0.0 |
Nonviolent sex offenses | 60 | 81.7 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 10.0 | 5.0 |
Obscene materialc | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wildlife | 21 | 85.7 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 0.0 | 9.5 | 0.0 |
Environmental | 12 | 91.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.3 |
All other offenses | 92 | 78.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 13.0 | 4.3 | 0.0 |
Weapon offenses | 390 | 76.2% | 5.4% | 1.0% | 6.7% | 8.5% | 2.3% |
Immigration offenses | 323 | 84.8% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 7.7% | 1.2% |
Characteristics of Parolees
According to Glaze and Bonczar, there were 784,408 federal and state parolees in the United States in 2005. (See Table 8.6.) Most (693,197) were paroled under state jurisdiction, whereas 91,211 had been paroled under federal jurisdiction. The number of state parolees grew by 1.6% from 2004 to 2005, which was higher than the average annual increase of 1.4% since 1995. The number of parolees has increased by 104,987, or 15.4%, since 1995.
In 2005, 12% of parolees were women; this percentage had not changed since 2000, but it had increased from 1995, when 10% of parolees were women. (See Table 8.7.) In 1995, 34% of parolees were white, 45% were African-American, and 21% were Hispanic. Ten years later the proportion of whites had grown substantially, and a higher proportion of parolees were white (41%) in 2005 than black (40%) or Hispanic (18%). Only 1% of parolees were Native American or Alaskan Native, and another 1% were Asian, Pacific Islander, or Native Hawaiian. In general, the gender and racial/ethnic distribution of parolees more closely matched that of the prison population than that of people on probation.
Table 8.7 also shows that 83% of parolees were under the active supervision of parole officers in 2005. Of parolees leaving parole, only 45% had successfully completed the terms of their parole. As a group, parolees are more serious offenders than probationers, given that 94% have been sentenced to one year or more of prison for felonies.
TABLE 8.3 | |||||||
Outcomes of probation supervision, by offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004 [continued] | |||||||
Most serious offense of conviction | Number of probation terminations | Percent of probation supervisions terminating with— | |||||
No violation | Technical violationsa | New crimeb | Administrative case closures | ||||
Drug use | Fugitive status | Other | |||||
Note: Offenses for 57 felony offenders could not be classified. | |||||||
—Too few cases to obtain statistically reliable data. | |||||||
aSupervision terminated with incarceration or removal to inactive status for violation of supervision conditions other than charges for new offenses. | |||||||
bSupervision terminated with incarceration or removal to inactive status after arrest for a "major" or "minor" offense. | |||||||
cIn this table "murder" includes nonnegligent manslaughter; "sexual abuse" includes only violent sex offenses; "fraud" excludes tax fraud; "larceny" excludes transportation of stolen property; "other property offenses" excludes fraudulent property offenses and includes destruction of property and trespassing; "tax law violations" includes tax fraud; "obscene material" denotes the mail or transport thereof; "misdemeanors" includes misdemeanors, petty offenses, and unknown offense levels; and "drug possession" also includes other drug misdemeanors. | |||||||
Source: "Table 7.3. Outcomes of Probation Supervision, by Offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004," in Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cfjs0407.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | |||||||
Misdemeanorsc | 7,470 | 79.4% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 6.0% | 6.4% | 1.9% |
Fraudulent property offense | 537 | 90.7 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 1.1 |
Larceny | 717 | 79.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 0.8 |
Drug possessionc | 1,446 | 75.2 | 7.6 | 2.6 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 1.8 |
Immigration misdemeanors | 949 | 73.8 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 14.2 | 0.3 |
Traffic offenses | 2,039 | 81.4 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 2.9 |
Other misdemeanors | 1,782 | 80.1 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 2.5 |
TABLE 8.4 | ||
Persons under the supervision of the federal probation system and number of authorized probation officers, 1975–2005 | ||
Number of persons under supervision | Number of probation officers | |
*Approximate. | ||
Source: Ann L. Pastore and Kathleen Maguire, editors, "Table 6.7.2005. Persons under Supervision of the Federal Probation System and Authorized Probation Officers," in Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2003, 31st ed., U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005, http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t672005.pdf (accessed February 16, 2007) | ||
1975 | 64,261 | 1,377 |
1976 | 64,246 | 1,452 |
1977 | 64,427 | 1,578 |
1978 | 66,681 | 1,604 |
1979 | 66,087 | 1,604 |
1980 | 64,450 | 1,604 |
1981 | 59,016 | 1,534 |
1982 | 58,373 | 1,637 |
1983 | 60,180 | 1,574 |
1984 | 63,092 | 1,690 |
1985 | 65,999 | 1,758 |
1986 | 69,656 | 1,847 |
1987 | 73,432 | 1,879 |
1988 | 76,366 | 2,046 |
1989 | 77,284 | 2,146 |
1990 | 80,592 | 2,361 |
1991 | 83,012 | 2,802 |
1992 | 85,920 | 3,316 |
1993 | 86,823 | 3,516* |
1994 | 89,103 | NA |
1995 | 85,822 | NA |
1996 | 88,966 | 3,473 |
1997 | 91,434 | 3,603 |
1998 | 93,737 | 3,842 |
1999 | 97,190 | 3,913 |
2000 | 100,395 | 3,981 |
2001 | 104,715 | 4,345 |
2002 | 108,792 | 4,476 |
2003 | 111,281 | 4,560 |
2004 | 112,643 | 4,490 |
2005 | 112,931 | 4,585 |
Parole Geography
Glaze and Bonczar report that at the end of 2005 California had the largest number of parolees (111,743), and Maine had the smallest number (32). (See Table 8.6.) The District of Columbia had the highest number (1,214) of parolees per 100,000 adult residents, followed by Pennsylvania (787), Arkansas (782), and Oregon (766). The U.S. average was 350 per 100,000 population; this figure includes people on parole under federal jurisdiction. Besides California, Texas (101,916) and Pennsylvania (75,732) had the largest numbers of parolees. The number of parolees increased significantly in several states, including Arkansas (22.7%), North Dakota (16.7%), West Virginia (16.4%), and New Mexico (16.1%). The parole populations decreased in several states, including Nebraska (16.7%), Hawaii (7.7%), and Massachusetts (7.1%). Overall, the West had the greatest increase in parolees (3.2%) in 2005, whereas the Northeast had a decline of 1.4%.
Parole Violation and Rearrest Trends
The overall success rate for parolees has remained fairly stable for several years. As shown in Table 8.7, 45% of individuals on parole completed their sentences successfully in both 1995 and 2005.
In the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, the BJS notes that the success rate for federal parolees was higher than the national average. In FY 2004, 49.3% of federal parolees completed their sentences successfully. The success rate for those who had committed violent offenses was 36.6%, whereas for those who had committed property offenses it was 55.1%. More than half (60.4%) of drug offenders successfully completed their parole sentences.
TABLE 8.5 | |||||||
Outcomes of supervised release, by offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004 | |||||||
Most serious offense of conviction | Number of supervised release terminations | Percent of supervised releases terminating with— | |||||
No violation | Technical violationsa | New crimeb | Administrative case closures | ||||
Drug use | Fugitive status | Other | |||||
All offenses | 32,930 | 62.1% | 7.2% | 5.5% | 9.5% | 13.7% | 1.9% |
Felonies | 32,284 | 62.0% | 7.2% | 5.5% | 9.5% | 13.8% | 1.9% |
Violent offenses | 2,486 | 42.8% | 10.1% | 10.0% | 16.5% | 18.2% | 2.5% |
Murderc | 121 | 46.3 | 4.1 | 10.7 | 25.6 | 10.7 | 2.5 |
Negligent manslaughter | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Assault | 319 | 43.9 | 5.3 | 11.0 | 21.0 | 17.9 | 0.9 |
Robbery | 1,802 | 42.5 | 12.0 | 9.7 | 14.2 | 19.0 | 2.7 |
Sexual abusec | 189 | 40.2 | 5.3 | 13.2 | 24.9 | 14.3 | 2.1 |
Kidnapping | 35 | 57.1 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 11.4 | 20.0 | 5.7 |
Threats against the President | 16 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 18.8 | 37.5 | 18.8 |
Property offenses | 7,462 | 67.7% | 4.9% | 5.2% | 9.5% | 11.0% | 1.7% |
Fraudulent | 6,171 | 70.8% | 4.1% | 4.3% | 8.8% | 10.4% | 1.6% |
Embezzlement | 667 | 85.2 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 0.9 |
Fraudc | 4,669 | 72.5 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 8.6 | 10.1 | 1.8 |
Forgery | 105 | 56.2 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 13.3 | 11.4 | 0.0 |
Counterfeiting | 730 | 49.5 | 10.4 | 8.9 | 13.3 | 16.3 | 1.6 |
Other | 1,291 | 52.9% | 8.8% | 9.9% | 12.6% | 13.8% | 2.0% |
Burglary | 86 | 27.9 | 12.8 | 18.6 | 20.9 | 19.8 | 0.0 |
Larcenyc | 803 | 52.9 | 9.5 | 10.8 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 1.9 |
Motor vehicle theft | 171 | 55.6 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 13.5 | 17.5 | 2.3 |
Arson and explosives | 127 | 52.8 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 14.2 | 12.6 | 4.7 |
Transportation of stolen property | 81 | 75.3 | 7.4 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 9.9 | 1.2 |
Other property offensesc | 23 | 47.8 | 4.3 | 8.7 | 26.1 | 13.0 | 0.0 |
Drug offenses | 15,408 | 65.2% | 8.0% | 4.8% | 8.2% | 12.0% | 1.8% |
Trafficking | 13,970 | 64.8 | 8.2 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 12.2 | 1.8 |
Possession and other drug offenses | 1,438 | 69.1 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 1.5 |
Public-order offenses | 2,701 | 73.2% | 4.0% | 3.5% | 7.1% | 9.8% | 2.4% |
Regulatory | 747 | 69.7% | 5.6% | 2.9% | 6.3% | 13.0% | 2.4% |
Agriculture | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Antitrust | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Food and drug | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Transportation | 27 | 77.8 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 11.1 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
Civil rights | 61 | 82.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.9 | 6.6 | 0.0 |
Communications | 16 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Custom laws | 40 | 67.5 | 12.5 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 5.0 |
Postal laws | 33 | 42.4 | 21.2 | 9.1 | 12.1 | 9.1 | 6.1 |
Other regulatory offenses | 554 | 68.2 | 5.1 | 2.7 | 6.3 | 15.5 | 2.2 |
Other | 1,954 | 74.6% | 3.3% | 3.7% | 7.4% | 8.6% | 2.4% |
Tax law violationsc | 316 | 90.8 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 0.9 |
Bribery | 84 | 89.3 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
Perjury, contempt, and intimidation | 76 | 75.0 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 1.3 | 11.8 | 5.3 |
National defense | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Escape | 153 | 37.9 | 11.8 | 12.4 | 16.3 | 20.3 | 1.3 |
Racketeering and extortion | 690 | 78.4 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 3.0 |
Gambling | 34 | 76.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.9 | 17.6 | 0.0 |
Nonviolent sex offenses | 359 | 74.7 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 10.0 | 9.2 | 2.8 |
Obscene materialc | 24 | 66.7 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 8.3 | 12.5 | 4.2 |
Wildlife | 19 | 94.7 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Environmental | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
All other offenses | 188 | 54.8 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 12.8 | 12.2 | 3.2 |
Weapon offenses | 2,858 | 46.8% | 10.8% | 6.4% | 13.3% | 20.5% | 2.3% |
Immigration offenses | 1,344 | 40.1% | 4.6% | 9.2% | 8.6% | 36.2% | 1.3% |
Of those who violated federal parole in FY 2004, most had either violated their parole by committing a new crime (17.3%) or using drugs (10.8%). (See Table 8.8.) Male parolees were almost three times as likely to terminate parole by committing a new crime as female parolees, and they were almost twice as likely to use drugs than female parolees. (See Table 8.9.) The success rate was 61.9% for white parolees, 39.9% for African-Americans, and 36% for Native Americans or Alaskan Natives. The level of education seemed to make a difference in the success rates of parolees. Those with college degrees had a success rate of 82.5%, whereas only 47.8% of those with less than a high school education were successful. Drug use also had a slight effect. Those with no known drug abuse problem had a success rate of 62.5%, whereas those with a known history of drug abuse had a 58% success rate.
TABLE 8.5 | |||||||
Outcomes of supervised release, by offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004 [continued] | |||||||
Most serious offense of conviction | Number of supervised release terminations | Percent of supervised releases terminating with— | |||||
No violation | Technical violationsa | New crimeb | Administrative case closures | ||||
Drug use | Fugitive status | Other | |||||
Note: Offenses for 25 felony offenders could not be determined. | |||||||
—Too few cases to obtain statistically reliable data. | |||||||
aSupervision terminated with incarceration or removal to inactive status for violation of supervision conditions other than charges for new offenses. | |||||||
bSupervision terminated with incarceration or removal to inactive status after arrest for a "major" or "minor" offense. | |||||||
cIn this table "murder" includes nonnegligent manslaughter; "sexual abuse" includes only violent sex offenses; "fraud" excludes tax fraud; "larceny" excludes transportation of stolen property; "other property offenses" excludes fraudulent property offenses and includes destruction of property and trespassing; "tax law violations" includes tax fraud; "obscene material" denotes the mail or transport thereof; "misdemeanors" includes misdemeanors, petty offenses, and unknown offense levels; and "drug possession" also includes other drug misdemeanors. | |||||||
Source: "Table 7.5. Outcomes of Supervised Release, by Offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004," in Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cfjs0407.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | |||||||
Misdemeanorsc | 646 | 66.4% | 7.9% | 5.9% | 8.5% | 9.0% | 2.3% |
Fraudulent property offense | 61 | 72.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 13.1 | 4.9 | 0.0 |
Larceny | 100 | 57.0 | 12.0 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
Drug possessionc | 191 | 55.0 | 13.1 | 8.4 | 9.4 | 12.0 | 2.1 |
Immigration misdemeanors | 17 | 64.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 23.5 | 0.0 | 11.8 |
Traffic offenses | 79 | 77.2 | 6.3 | 0.0 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 3.8 |
Other misdemeanors | 198 | 76.3 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 8.6 | 3.0 |
TABLE 8.6 | ||||||
Adults on parole by region and jurisdiction, 2005 | ||||||
Region and jurisdiction | Parole population, 1/1/05 | 2005 | Parole population 12/31/05 | Percent change, 2005 | Number on parole per 100,000 adult residents, 12/31/05 | |
Entries | Exits | |||||
U.S. total | 771,852 | 516,400 | 503,800 | 784,408 | 1.6% | 350 |
Federal | 89,589 | 36,121 | 34,549 | 91,211 | 1.8% | 41 |
State | 682,263 | 480,300 | 469,300 | 693,197 | 1.6 | 309 |
Northeast | 154,309 | 70,200 | 72,400 | 152,120 | −1.4% | 363 |
Connecticut | 2,552 | 2,813 | 2,794 | 2,571 | 0.7 | 96 |
Maine | 32 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 0.0 | 3 |
Massachusetts | 3,854 | 5,062 | 5,337 | 3,579 | −7.1 | 73 |
New Hampshire | 1,212 | 861 | 671 | 1,402 | * | 139 |
New Jersey | 13,880 | 10,818 | 10,824 | 13,874 | 0.0 | 211 |
New York | 54,524 | 23,340 | 24,331 | 53,533 | −1.8 | 364 |
Pennsylvaniaa | 76,989 | 26,300 | 27,500 | 75,732 | −1.6 | 787 |
RhodeIslandb | 344 | 381 | 389 | 338 | −1.7 | 41 |
Vermontb, c | 922 | 657 | 520 | 1,059 | 14.9 | 216 |
Midwest | 127,338 | 99,252 | 95,760 | 130,830 | 2.7% | 262 |
Illinois | 34,277 | 35,636 | 35,337 | 34,576 | 0.9 | 362 |
Indiana | 6,627 | 6,446 | 5,778 | 7,295 | 10.1 | 156 |
Iowab | 3,325 | 2,665 | 2,430 | 3,560 | 7.1 | 155 |
Kansasb | 4,525 | 4,500 | 4,359 | 4,666 | 3.1 | 225 |
Michigan | 20,924 | 10,429 | 11,375 | 19,978 | −4.5 | 263 |
Minnesota | 3,676 | 5,035 | 4,745 | 3,966 | 7.9 | 101 |
Missouri | 17,400 | 13,458 | 12,484 | 18,374 | 5.6 | 414 |
Nebraska | 801 | 869 | 1,003 | 667 | −16.7 | 50 |
North Dakota | 246 | 728 | 687 | 287 | 16.7 | 57 |
Ohio | 18,882 | 9,956 | 9,326 | 19,512 | 3.3 | 224 |
South Dakota | 2,217 | 1,848 | 1,621 | 2,444 | 10.2 | 414 |
Wisconsin | 14,438 | 7,682 | 6,615 | 15,505 | 7.4 | 365 |
South | 229,775 | 104,986 | 100,733 | 234,007 | 1.8% | 288 |
Alabama | 7,745 | 3,030 | 3,523 | 7,252 | −6.4 | 208 |
Arkansas | 13,476 | 8,130 | 5,075 | 16,531 | 22.7 | 782 |
Delaware | 539 | 361 | 300 | 600 | 11.3 | 92 |
District of Columbiac | 5,253 | 2,112 | 2,180 | 5,288 | 0.7 | 1,214 |
Florida | 4,484 | 6,198 | 5,897 | 4,785 | 6.7 | 34 |
Georgia | 23,344 | 11,366 | 11,859 | 22,851 | −2.1 | 338 |
Kentucky | 8,255 | 5,727 | 4,420 | 9,562 | 15.8 | 298 |
Louisiana | 24,219 | 13,330 | 13,477 | 24,072 | −0.6 | 712 |
Maryland | 14,351 | 7,658 | 7,738 | 14,271 | −0.6 | 339 |
Mississippi | 1,758 | 996 | 784 | 1,970 | 12.1 | 90 |
North Carolina | 2,882 | 3,506 | 3,287 | 3,101 | 7.6 | 47 |
Oklahomac | 4,329 | 1,488 | 1,800 | 4,017 | −7.2 | 148 |
South Carolina | 3,237 | 1,050 | 1,132 | 3,155 | −2.5 | 97 |
Tennesseeb | 8,223 | 3,748 | 3,126 | 8,721 | 6.1 | 190 |
Texas | 102,072 | 32,701 | 32,857 | 101,916 | −0.2 | 611 |
Virginia | 4,392 | 2,570 | 2,463 | 4,499 | 2.4 | 78 |
West Virginia | 1,216 | 1,015 | 815 | 1,416 | 16.4 | 99 |
West | 170,841 | 205,866 | 200,380 | 176,240 | 3.2% | 347 |
Alaskab | 949 | 645 | 621 | 973 | 2.5 | 202 |
Arizona | 5,728 | 11,782 | 11,402 | 6,108 | 6.6 | 138 |
Californiab | 110,262 | 162,329 | 160,848 | 111,743 | 1.3 | 421 |
Colorado | 7,383 | 6,880 | 6,067 | 8,196 | 11.0 | 234 |
Hawaii | 2,296 | 632 | 722 | 2,119 | −7.7 | 213 |
Idaho | 2,370 | 1,443 | 1,331 | 2,482 | 4.7 | 233 |
Montanab | 810 | 570 | 545 | 835 | 3.1 | 114 |
Nevada | 3,610 | 2,612 | 2,257 | 3,965 | 9.8 | 217 |
TABLE 8.6 | ||||||
Adults on parole by region and jurisdiction, 2005 [continued] | ||||||
Region and jurisdiction | Parole population, 1/1/05 | 2005 | Parole population 12/31/05 | Percent change, 2005 | Number on parole per 100,000 adult residents, 12/31/05 | |
Entries | Exits | |||||
Note: Because of nonresponse or incomplete data, the parole population for some jurisdictions on December 31, 2005, does not equal the population on January 1, plus entries, minus exits. | ||||||
*Not calculated. | ||||||
aData for entries and exits were estimated for nonreporting county agencies. | ||||||
bExcludes parolees in one of the following categories: absconder, out of state, or inactive. | ||||||
cAll data were estimated. | ||||||
dDue to a change in recordkeeping procedures, data are not comparable to previous reports. | ||||||
Source: Lauren E. Glaze and Thomas P. Bonczar, "Table 4. Adults on Parole, 2005," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2005, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus05.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | ||||||
New Mexico | 2,469 | 1,439 | 1,042 | 2,866 | 16.1 | 197 |
Oregon | 20,515 | 9,037 | 8,053 | 21,499 | 4.8 | 766 |
Utah | 3,246 | 2,502 | 2,471 | 3,277 | 1.0 | 188 |
Washingtond | 10,640 | 5,668 | 4,740 | 11,568 | 8.7 | 239 |
Wyoming | 563 | 327 | 281 | 609 | 8.2 | 153 |
TABLE 8.7 | |||
Characteristics of adults on parole, 1995, 2000, and 2005 | |||
Characteristic | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 |
Note: For every characteristic there were persons of unknown type. Detail may not sum to total because of rounding. | |||
—Less than 0.5%. | |||
—Not available. | |||
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin. | |||
bIn 1995 absconder and other unsuccessful statuses were reported among other. | |||
Source: Lauren E. Glaze and Thomas P. Bonczar, "Table 6. Characteristics of Adults on Parole, 1995, 2000, and 2005," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2005, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus05.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | |||
Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Gender | |||
Male | 90% | 88% | 88% |
Female | 10 | 12 | 12 |
Race/Hispanic origin | |||
Whitea | 34% | 38% | 41% |
Blacka | 45 | 40 | 40 |
Hispanic | 21 | 21 | 18 |
American Indian/Alaska Nativea | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Asian/Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islandera | — | — | 1 |
Status of supervision | |||
Active | 78% | 83% | 83% |
Inactive | 11 | 4 | 4 |
Absconder | 6 | 7 | 7 |
Supervised out of state | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Other | — | 1 | 1 |
Sentence length | |||
Less than 1 year | 6% | 3% | 6% |
1 year or more | 94 | 97 | 94 |
Type of offense | |||
Violent | N/A | N/A | 25% |
Property | N/A | N/A | 25 |
Drug | N/A | N/A | 37 |
Public order | N/A | N/A | 6 |
Other | N/A | N/A | 7 |
Adults entering parole | |||
Discretionary parole | 50% | 37% | 31% |
Mandatory parole | 45 | 54 | 51 |
Reinstatement | 4 | 6 | 8 |
Other | 2 | 2 | 10 |
Adults leaving parole | |||
Successful completion | 45% | 43% | 45% |
Returned to incarceration | 41 | 42 | 38 |
With new sentence | 12 | 11 | 12 |
With revocation pending | 18 | 30 | 25 |
Unknown | 11 | 1 | 1 |
Absconderb | N/A | 9 | 11 |
Other unsuccessfulb | N/A | 2 | 2 |
Transferred | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Death | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Other | 10 | 2 | 2 |
TABLE 8.8 | |||||||
Outcomes of parole, by offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004 | |||||||
Most serious offense of conviction | Number of parole terminations | Percent of paroles terminating with— | |||||
No violation | Technical violationsa | New crimeb | Administrative case closures | ||||
Drug use | Fugitive status | Other | |||||
—Too few cases to obtain statistically reliable data. | |||||||
aSupervision terminated with incarceration or removal to inactive status for violation of supervision conditions other than charges for new offenses. | |||||||
bSupervision terminated with incarceration or removal to inactive status after arrest for a "major" or "minor" offense. | |||||||
cIn this table "murder" includes nonnegligent manslaughter; "sexual abuse" includes only violent sex offenses; "fraud" excludes tax fraud; "larceny" excludes transportation of stolen property; "tax law violations" includes tax fraud; "misdemeanors" includes misdemeanors, petty offenses, and unknown offense levels; and "drug possession" also includes other drug misdemeanors. | |||||||
Source: "Table 7.7. Outcomes of Parole, by Offense, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004," in Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cfjs0407.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | |||||||
All offenses | 1,391 | 49.3% | 10.8% | 7.0% | 9.3% | 17.3% | 6.2% |
Felonies | 1,385 | 49.2% | 10.8% | 7.1% | 9.3% | 17.4% | 6.1% |
Violent offenses | 525 | 36.6% | 14.9% | 9.1% | 9.7% | 23.0% | 6.7% |
Murderc | 59 | 28.8 | 15.3 | 3.4 | 8.5 | 35.6 | 8.5 |
Assault | 39 | 38.5 | 10.3 | 5.1 | 20.5 | 12.8 | 12.8 |
Robbery | 383 | 38.6 | 14.6 | 9.9 | 8.9 | 21.7 | 6.3 |
Sexual abusec | 14 | 28.6 | 42.9 | 7.1 | 14.3 | 7.1 | 0.0 |
Kidnapping | 29 | 27.6 | 10.3 | 13.8 | 6.9 | 37.9 | 3.4 |
Threats against the President | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Property offenses | 127 | 55.1% | 4.7% | 5.5% | 8.7% | 18.1% | 7.9% |
Fraudulent | 57 | 64.9% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 10.5% | 12.3% | 5.3% |
Embezzlement | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Fraudc | 45 | 66.7 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 11.1 | 13.3 | 4.4 |
Forgery | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Counterfeiting | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Other | 70 | 47.1% | 5.7% | 7.1% | 7.1% | 22.9% | 10.0% |
Burglary | 29 | 31.0 | 6.9 | 0.0 | 10.3 | 34.5 | 17.2 |
Larcenyc | 18 | 55.6 | 5.6 | 11.1 | 5.6 | 11.1 | 11.1 |
Motor vehicle theft | 14 | 50.0 | 7.1 | 14.3 | 7.1 | 21.4 | 0.0 |
Arson and explosives | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Transportation of stolen property | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Other property offensesc | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Drug offenses | 560 | 60.4% | 8.0% | 5.2% | 8.4% | 12.5% | 5.5% |
Trafficking | 484 | 62.6 | 7.4 | 4.8 | 7.6 | 12.6 | 5.0 |
Possession and other drug offenses | 76 | 46.1 | 11.8 | 7.9 | 13.2 | 11.8 | 9.2 |
Public-order offenses | 100 | 50.0% | 9.0% | 8.0% | 15.0% | 14.0% | 4.0% |
Regulatory | 11 | 63.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 9.1% | 27.3% | 0.0% |
Transportation | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Custom laws | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Other regulatory offenses | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Other | 89 | 48.3% | 10.1% | 9.0% | 15.7% | 12.4% | 4.5% |
Tax law violationsc | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Bribery | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Perjury, contempt, and intimidation | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Escape | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Racketeering and extortion | 42 | 69.0 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 14.3 | 7.1 |
Nonviolent sex offenses | 12 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 16.7 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
All other offenses | 17 | 5.9 | 29.4 | 17.6 | 35.3 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
Weapon offenses | 69 | 43.5% | 17.4% | 8.7% | 7.2% | 15.9% | 7.2% |
Immigration offenses | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Misdemeanorsc | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Drug possessionc | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Immigration misdemeanors | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Other misdemeanors | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
TABLE 8.9 | |||||||
Characteristics of offenders terminating parole, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004 | |||||||
Offender characteristic | Number of parole terminations | Percent terminating parole with— | |||||
No violation | Technical violationsa | New crimeb | Administrative case closures | ||||
Drug use | Fugitive status | Other | |||||
—Too few cases to obtain statistically reliable data. | |||||||
aViolation of supervision conditions other than charges for new offenses. | |||||||
bIncludes both "major" and "minor" offenses. | |||||||
cTotal includes offenders whose characteristics could not be determined. | |||||||
Source: "Table 7.8. Characteristics of Offenders Terminating Parole, October 1, 2003–September 30, 2004," in Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2006, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cfjs0407.pdf (accessed January 24, 2007) | |||||||
All offendersc | 1,391 | 49.3% | 10.8% | 7.0% | 9.3% | 17.3% | 6.2% |
Male/female | |||||||
Male | 1,343 | 48.9% | 10.9% | 6.9% | 9.3% | 17.7% | 6.3% |
Female | 46 | 60.9 | 6.5 | 10.9 | 10.9 | 6.5 | 4.3 |
Race | |||||||
White | 622 | 61.9% | 5.1% | 6.4% | 8.2% | 12.9% | 5.5% |
Black or African American | 662 | 39.9 | 15.3 | 7.4 | 8.9 | 21.6 | 6.9 |
American Indian or Alaska Native | 25 | 36.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 36.0 | 0.0 |
Asian /Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Ethnicity | |||||||
Hispanic or Latino | 128 | 53.9% | 3.9% | 7.8% | 11.7% | 15.6% | 7.0% |
Not Hispanic or Latino | 1,245 | 49.1 | 11.5 | 7.0 | 9.1 | 17.3 | 6.1 |
Age | |||||||
19-20 years | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
21-30 years | 67 | 46.3% | 11.9% | 7.5% | 9.0% | 16.4% | 9.0% |
31-40 years | 203 | 34.5 | 15.8 | 7.4 | 12.8 | 23.6 | 5.9 |
Over 40 years | 1,120 | 52.1 | 9.8 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 16.3 | 6.1 |
Education | |||||||
Less than high school graduate | 575 | 47.8% | 9.7% | 8.2% | 8.9% | 17.7% | 7.7% |
High school graduate | 478 | 48.1 | 13.2 | 6.3 | 10.3 | 17.6 | 4.6 |
Some college | 171 | 63.7 | 9.4 | 2.9 | 8.8 | 11.1 | 4.1 |
College graduate | 40 | 82.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Drug abuse | |||||||
No known abuse | 636 | 62.5% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 7.4% | 8.8% | 12.5% |
Drug history | 719 | 58.0 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 14.3 | 11.8 |