The Differences Between Probation and Parole

Being a probation and parole officer, one of the questions I often encounter is about the differences between probation and parole. They are similar, and many people interchange the terms, but there are enough differences that they are not the same thing.

First remember that every state can, and usually are, a little different, so while what I tell you is true about my state, things might be a little different in another state. Most general items should be very similar however.

First, both probation and parole allow someone who has been involve in the commission of a crime to be in the general public, hopefully being a productive citizen, rather than being incarcerated. Many people want to know why we can't lock up everyone. That alone is worth an article, but to deal with it quickly, let's look at 3 things.

First, some people legitimately to something stupid and deserve a chance to atone and get on with their life. Second, keeping someone locked up is very expensive and the taxpayers throw a fit when you hand them to bill. Third, you have to have someplace to put them, most prisons are full, and prisons are expensive to build, staff, and who wants one next door to them?

Now, I want to look at 6 areas where probation and parole differ.

Area one is perhaps the easiest to explain, and that is where in the legal process each occurs. Probation is an alternative to incarceration. It occurs in the court. Probation can be county, state, or federal. In my state, misdemeanor (crimes carrying a sentence of less than 1 year) are handled by the county, either through a county probation office or a private company, unless there are special circumstances. This can occur both in general sessions and criminal courts. Felony probation occurs only in criminal court and is handled by the state (in other words my department, either my branch or the community corrections program). A person can be assigned to probation as there sentence, this can be the result of a plea bargain, bench trial, jury trail or specific sentencing hearing. Parole happens after someone has been incarcerated for a period and is granted not by the courts but by the Parole Board. In my state both probation and parole are governed by a single entity even though this gets complicated.

The next area where there are differences is the area of authority. The court grants probation and the final authority over a probationer is the sentencing judge. The Parole Board grants parole and they have final authority over a parolee. Probation officers supervise probationers, parole officers supervise parolees and in some cases, such as my own, an officer might be both a probation and parole officer.

The restrictions on parolees and probationers are similar, but can differ. Parole is usually a bit stricter, especially in the beginning. Now the parole board can place specific conditions on the parole certificate that the parolee has to live with or get locked back up. The judge likewise can place special conditions on a probationer, and likewise he or she has to deal with it, or risk being locked up. For instance in my state a parolee generally needs his officer's permission to incur debt, get married, change residence. A probationer has to notify his officer before changing residence, but doesn't necessarily have to have permission. On the other hand, if the living situation is inappropriate, he can be made to move elsewhere.

Now there are different types of both parole and probation. Most parole is regular, however there is also boot camp, lifetime supervision, and technical violator program. Boot camp simple means the offender was incarcerated in a boot camp rather than a normal prison. Lifetime supervision is a program for sex offenders, which means very close supervision for very long term. The technical violator program is a new program, which fast tracks parole violators who are revoked for reasons other than commission of new crimes. It stresses counseling and rehabilitation to release the offender back into the world with an improved attitude. Felony probation comes in several flavors including pre-trial diversion, judicial diversion, standard probation, intensive probation, determinate release, community corrections program, and community corrections supervision. Pre-trial diversion is a program available to first time offenders in certain situations. Basically prosecution is suspended and the person is given up to 2 years of supervision without a conviction. If they live with a special set of tailor made rules, they are released without ever being convicted of a felony, no lose of rights, and the ability to wipe their record clean. If they fail to complete the probation, a trial is held. Judicial diversion means the person has been convicted, but not sentenced. Sentencing is suspended and the person is placed on supervision for a specific period of time. If completed successfully, the person can expunge his record. If he fails, the judge can then determine a suitable sentence. Intensive probation includes strict curfews, more meetings, more home visits, and tighter rules, usually for the first year of probation. Then it becomes standard probation. Special officers carrying a smaller caseload supervise these people. Determinate release is a program designed to keep from swamping the parole board. Any felony case with a sentence of 2 years or lease falls into this category. When incarcerated, whether on the original charge or a revocation of probation, the person does not have to appear before the parole board and convince them he deserves to be released, but rather is automatically released after serving a specific amount of his sentence onto probation rather than parole. Should he violate this probation he must serve the balance of his sentence not being eligible for probation, parole, or early release. Community Corrections is a stricter form or probation often referred to as house arrest. People on this probation must give a schedule every week and when not at work, they must be home. They have to notify their officer before going to doctors, grocery shopping, ect. For this reason it is referred to as house arrest. Community Corrections officers rather than Probation Officers supervise this type of probation and it also differs in the way street credit is given. Some of our judges are having Community Corrections officers supervise regular probation cases under the stricter rules as punishment for violation probation, only they are not eligible for the street credits, this if referred to as Community Corrections Supervision.

Street credit is a difference between probation and parole also. When a person is sentenced in my state, they are given a specific period of time. Let's say it's a 4 year sentence. If they are incarcerated, they have 4 years to serve. If they fall into the range one offender, they will be eligible for parole after serving 30% of the sentence. Assuming they behave in prison they can earn good-time credits. Good-time credit may mean they get credit for an extra day for every week they serve, or 4 days for every month they don't cause trouble. Anyway, assuming a person serves a year, comes up for parole and it is granted. They do well on parole for 1 year then violate the parole and are revoked. Two things happen, first the hearing officer recommends a time for the person to again become eligible for parole, usually depending on the type and severity of the violation. It could be 6 months or it be serve the balance. If they are recommended for to be eligible in a year, it doesn't mean they automatically get it, just that they get a hearing. The second thing is that they get day for day credit on everyday from release on parole to the day the warrant was served on them to the day of the hearing. They don't get good-time, but they get the days, just like they were locked up. The one exception to this would be if the parole absconded, or ran off. In this case delinquency can be declared and the period the offender was gone can be added to the end of his sentence. Probation, with the exception of the Community Corrections Program doesn't give street time. If you get a four year suspended sentence (probation) and do fine for 3 years then screw up and get revoked, then you have the whole 4 years to serve.

The last area of difference is the violations. A violation means that the officer feels a rule has been broken. If this occurs a violation report is filed. On probation the report is filed with the judge and if he or she agrees they will issue a warrant. With parole the report goes to the Parole Board, which then issues a warrant. Then a hearing is held. The rules for the hearings are very different. With probation, the hearings are held in court, with parole it is a parole hearing before a hearing officer. The hearing officer does not determine guilt, but rather makes recommendations to the board based on findings. The hearings are recorded and are reviewed by the board as well as the recommendations. Now revocation hearings of both types have lower burdens or proof than hearings to convict of a crime. The level of proof in a violation hearing is just preponderance of the evidence. Parole hearings also have different standards of evidence. For instance, hearsay evidence can be allowed. With parole there are only 2 possibilities, either revoke back to prison or find the parolee not guilty of violation. At this point he can be recommended to serve the balance of his sentence or to become eligible for parole at a certain length of time. With probation the judge can find them guilty, but has more options on sentencing. He can place them in jail to serve their entire sentence, during which they may be granted parole, he can place them in jail for a specific time then release them back to probation (split confinement), he can move them to a more intensive form of probation, or he can extend their probation within state statutes, or he can combine them. He could for instance split confine the offender for 1 year to serve coming out to 1 year under community corrections supervision and 3 years on standard probation.

Anyway, that is a quick, down and dirty look at the alternatives to incarceration in my state's criminal justice system.