The Community Corrections Division protects the public by effectively processing releases and supervising offenders who are released under any form of community supervision. The Division identifies and returns to prison those offenders who seriously violate their conditions of supervision and who threaten public safety.

The Division consists of Community Supervision Bureau, Bureau of Fugitive Services/ Sex Offender Notification, and Interstate Compact Services Unit.

Community Supervision Bureau

The Community Supervision Bureau utilizes parole officers to supervise inmates released on community supervision, to include completing pre-release investigations, job placement, referrals to transitional services and urinalysis testing. Parole officers provide due process to inmates on supervised release who are charged with seriously violating their conditions of supervision. The Bureau also administers Home Arrest (HA) and the revocation hearing process.

HA provides community based supervision utilizing electronic monitoring for inmates who have been released on HA by the Board of Executive Clemency (BOEC).

The Revocation Hearing Unit prepares and presents cases at revocation hearings conducted by the BOEC for released inmates who have seriously violated their conditions of supervision. This unit also schedules and conducts revocation hearings on inmates released under supervision on statutory releases.

Bureau of Fugitive Services/Sex Offender Notification

The Fugitive Services Bureau prepares arrest warrants, places and removes jail holds, and ensures due process requirements are met when released inmates violate conditions of supervision and are returned to custody. Staff coordinate extraditions and "release to detainers", and enter needed information regarding fugitives into the Arizona Criminal Justice Information System. The Bureau also administers the state's Sex Offender Notification process for the Department and the violent sexual predator civil commitment screening process to determine if referrals will be made to the County Attorney's offices.

The Sex Offender Community Notification staff identify and profile sex offenders being released from ADC; coordinate with local law enforcement agencies statewide and with the Arizona Department of Public Safety; and provide ongoing training to local law enforcement agencies on the sex offender notification process in Arizona. These staff members also review and complete the screening process on inmates pending release from prison for possible civil commitment to the state hospital as violent sexual persons.

Interstate Compact Services Unit

The Interstate Compact Services Unit coordinates parole transfers between states, serves as the liaison for interstate information and special investigation requests from other states on pardons, clemency, or pre-sentence reports. The Unit coordinates the return of parole violators for incarceration from the "sending states", and acts as a liaison with various state and local criminal justice agencies for those states when procedural problems arise. The unit also administers the Interstate Agreement on Detainer for inmates incarcerated elsewhere who are returned to Arizona for trial on untried criminal charges.

Among the major accomplishments in Fiscal year 1998, Community Corrections Division:

• Provided community supervision to 9,916 offenders during 1998, with an average of 88 parole officers. Approximately 83 percent of the supervised offenders either remained on supervision or successfully completed supervision. There were 1,702 violators returned to custody.

• Represented the Department in 1,501 revocation hearings before the BOEC and conducted approximately 69 revocation hearings on offenders statutorily released under supervision or for Interstate Compact parole cases. Of the revocation cases presented, the BOEC found 99 percent in violation. Of these, 89 percent of the offenders heard were revoked and re-incarcerated.

• Opened an additional parole office in the City of Mesa, which allows the Department to better protect the community and to monitor and manage offenders locally.

• Completed 10,504 pre-placement investigations and made approximately 94,606 contacts with offenders.

• Reviewed 899 sex offender cases for Notification/Sex Offender Registration or sexual predator applicability. Of the total number of sex offender cases reviewed, 344 were subject to community notification and 189 cases were subject to registration only.

• Arranged transportation and extradition for 360 fugitives apprehended out of state. In addition, the Fugitive Services Unit placed 1,555 local jail holds, released 645 jail holds, and processed 2,989 warrants.

• As a result of the Legislature funding additional parole officer positions in 1995, research was completed to determine the impact of a lower parole officer to offender supervision ratio. The research revealed that the number of offenders committing new crimes while under supervision declined by 33% between 1994-1996, yet the number of offenders being returned for technical violations (failure to abide by conditions of supervision not resulting in a new criminal conviction) remained relatively constant. Although the results of the research is preliminary, the data appears to indicate that a lower parole supervision ratio does positively impact the umber of ne offenses committed by an offender while on supervision.

 

Updated on August 05, 1999