Glossary of Terms

Other Criminal Justice System Terms

Bond Supervision. Supervised release of a person charged with a crime. Persons on bond supervision generally must report to a community supervision officer and follow conditions similar to those of persons under community supervision. Also known as pre-trial supervision. See the section on Types of and Eligibility for Supervision for more information.

Boot Camp. These facilities provide the courts with a sentencing alternative for young (17 - 25) first-time offenders. Boot camps utilize a regimented supervision strategy along with other intervention programs.

Case Classification. A scientifically proven method/instrument of classifying offenders' needs and risks to ensure effective and efficient supervision.

Community Corrections. Strategies for correcting offenders without reliance on institutional incarceration, commonly delivered at the local level of government so responsiveness to local criminal justice concerns is implemented. Frequently, the terms community corrections, community supervision, and probation are used interchangeably.

Community Corrections Facility (CCF). A closely monitored residential setting that frequently includes treatment of a specific problem area for the offender. CCF's encompass a variety of residential programs such as restitution centers, treatment centers, and so forth. CCF's are managed by community supervision and corrections departments (CSCD's.) Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities are not CCF's.

Community Justice Assistance Division (CJAD). The division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice responsible for providing funding, monitoring, and technical assistance of community supervision services in Texas. See the section on How Community Supervision is Governed for more information.

Community Service Restitution (CSR). CSR is a condition of community supervision that requires a defendant to work a specified number of hours at a community service project or a non-profit organization in order to "pay back" the community for the crime committed. See the Community Service section for more information.

Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD). Formerly known as adult probation departments, CSCD's employ community supervision officers to provide supervision for adult offenders (17 and older) whose jail or prison sentences are suspended.

Community Supervision Officers. Provide supervision for adult offenders. See section on Community Supervision Officers for more information.

Court Residential Treatment Center (CRTC). A residential facility where 24-hour supervision is provided along with services and treatment for felony and misdemeanor offenders with problems in a variety of areas, such as alcohol dependency, substance abuse, mental problems, and emotional difficulties. Many offenders have one or more of the problems listed, but when the problem is significantly pronounced, those offenders require supervision in the structured environment of a CRTC in order to better address their problems and protect society.

Deferred Adjudication. A form of community supervision that if completed successfully will prevent a final conviction from appearing on the offender's record. See the section on Types of and Eligibility for Supervision for more information.

Electronic Monitoring. A tool or device used to monitor the absence or presence of individuals at a given location, at a specified time. Electronic monitoring is typically used in conjunction with non-residential supervision programs to enhance supervision.

Felony. See the section on the Criminal Justice System in Texas for more information.

Institutional Division (ID). A division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that oversees and operates state prisons.

Intensive Probation. An "umbrella" term for several types of intensive supervision of probationers. Each type of intensive probation is geared toward meeting specific problems of high risk and/or high need offenders. Types of intensive probation include intensive supervision probation (ISP) and specialized caseloads, such as Substance Abuse Caseloads (SAC), Sex Offender Caseloads (SOC), and Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility caseloads (SAFPF.)

Intensive Supervision Probation (ISP). A level of supervision for offenders who present a high risk to the community or exhibit high needs in problem areas. Officers supervising probationers on ISP supervise fewer offenders than in regular supervision, enabling the officer to provide an increased level of surveillance and supervision.

Judicial Advisory Council (JAC). A 12-member council appointed by the Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to advise the Community Justice Assistance Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Texas Board of Criminal Justice on matters of importance to the judiciary and community supervision. See the section on How Community Supervision is Governed for more information.

Misdemeanor. See the section on the Criminal Justice System in Texas.

Offenders. Persons who have been charged with a crime or who are serving a sentence of community supervision, jail time, or prison time. The term offenders is often used interchangeably with probationers, defendants, confinees, and inmates.

Personal Recognizance Bond. Individuals may be granted a personal recognizance or personal bond that releases them from jail without having to post a bond, on the promise to appear for future court hearings. If they fail to appear for court, cash or some form of security must be paid for that failure to appear, and a new warrant will be issued. Personal bonds granted by Brazos County judges may not be recognized in other areas, so offenders who have outstanding warrants from Brazos County should always make arrangements to turn themselves in locally to avoid having to post a bond in another county or state.

Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (PSI). Provides information about the offenders' criminal histories, their past and current family situation, work history/habits, and other pertinent facts to help the court determine appropriate sentencing.

Pre-trial Supervision. Defendants under the supervision of a CSCD prior to trial. Specific conditions must be followed while under pre-trial supervision. Also known as bond supervision. See the section on Types of and Eligibility for Supervision for more information.

Probation. This term has the same meaning as community supervision.

Probationers. Persons who are serving a sentence of community supervision.

Recidivism. To commit a new crime. The recidivism rate can refer to the frequency at which criminals re-offend, or the percentage of criminals who re-offend.

Rehabilitation (Habilitation.) Corrective strategy that is characterized by discipline and treatment to bring about change in the behavior that caused or led to the commission of criminal activity.

Restitution. Repayment for having committed a crime. Restitution can be made to a specific victim in a dollar amount to repay for damages or through work for a non-profit or governmental agency as a means of repayment to society in general for offenses committed. See Community Service and Victim Services Program sections for more information.

Restitution Center (RC). A community-based correctional facility that provides 24-hour close supervision and a highly structured environment for non-violent employable felony offenders. Offenders are confined to the center except to go to their place of employment, to perform community service work, or to attend educational or rehabilitation programs.

Revocation. When a probationer does not abide by the conditions of supervision and/or they commit another crime, the community supervision officer asks the prosecutor to file a Motion to Revoke Community Supervision for persons on regular community supervision or Motion to Proceed with Adjudication for offenders on deferred adjudication (see explanations of regular and deferred adjudication community supervision under the Types of and Eligibility for Supervision section.) If it appears there has been a violation of the conditions, the judge signs the motion to revoke or proceed, which triggers an arrest warrant. Misdemeanor offenders facing a motion to revoke and felony and misdemeanor offenders facing a motion to proceed have a right to bond out of jail, while felons on regular community supervision who are facing a motion to revoke may have no bond set. Once the offender is arrested, a hearing is held to determine if the conditions have been violated. If the judge determines that the conditions have been violated, the community supervision is revoked and the offender is sentenced to a term in jail or prison, depending on whether the person is on misdemeanor or felony community supervision. The judge may also return the person to community supervision with no penalty, or may modify the conditions of supervision rather than revoking the offender.

Shock Probation. Placement by a judge of an offender into jail or prison for a period of time, after which the offender is released onto community supervision. This gives the offender an example of jail or prison life that will hopefully "shock" them and create within them a desire to avoid returning to jail or prison.

Specialized Caseloads. Offenders supervised on caseloads that focus on particular problems, such as substance abuse (SAC), sex offender issues (SOC), and issues facing offenders returning from Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities (SAFPF.)

Strategies for Case Supervision (SCS). A validated interview instrument that assists a community supervision officer in determining what level of risk an offender poses to society and what level of needs an offender has in order to be rehabilitated or habilitated, thus reducing risk. Supervision of and programs for the offender are then planned in order to control identified risks and meet identified needs.

Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities (SAFPF). This is a state-operated secure residential program that provides substance abuse treatment to felony offenders whose substance abuse problem contributed significantly to their committing a crime. See the Programs and Services section on SAFPF's for more information.

Supervision Plan. Based upon an assessment process, a community supervision officer determines the offender's problem areas to address, the referrals to community resources that are to be made, the offender's action plan, and the officer's action plan to achieve the desired results.

Texas Board of Criminal Justice. A nine-member board appointed by the Governor of Texas to oversee the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The agency that operates and oversees the state's prison, state jail, and pardons and paroles systems. In addition this agency oversees the Community Justice Assistance Division that is responsible for providing funding, monitoring, and technical assistance of community supervision services in Texas. See the section on How Community Supervision is Governed for more information.