What types of supervision now fall under the control of county probation after realignment?
Here is a quick overview of the different types of supervision that are now under the control of county probation departments in California after Realignment:
- Informal Probation (also called summary or court probation): Informal probation is a type of supervision in which you are supervised by the court, not by a probation officer. A judge may order informal probation for misdemeanor convictions, but not for felony convictions at the time you’re sentenced; however, if you receive formal probation for a felony conviction, your supervision level may be later reduced to informal probation.[726] To learn more, go to PG. 196.
- Formal Probation: Formal probation is a type of supervision in which you are supervised by a probation officer. It’s the minimum supervision that a judge can order for a felony conviction, and it can also be given out for some more serious misdemeanor convictions and people who have prior convictions.[727] To learn more, go to PG. 200.
(Note: Depending on the type of felony, you may not be on probation, but rather on state parole, which is covered separately, beginning on PG. 143.)
- Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS): PRCS is a new type of supervision created by Realignment. Now, people who are released from state prison after serving a sentence for a non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual crime will be supervised by local county probation officers instead of state parole officers. PRCS can last up to 3 years, but will end after 1 year if you do not violate any of your PRCS conditions.[728] To learn more, go to PG. 202.
- Mandatory Supervision: Mandatory supervision is also a new type of supervision created by Realignment. If you were convicted of a “non-non-non” felony, judges in California state courts can now use a tool called “split sentencing,” which splits the time of your sentence between time in jail and a period of supervision by a county probation officer. This period of supervision after the jail term is called mandatory supervision.[729] To learn more, go to PG. 208.
- 726
See Cal. Penal Code § 1203(a). Informal probation is known under the penal code as a “conditional sentence.” ↑
- 727
See Cal. Penal Code § 1203(a–d). ↑
- 728
See Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Reh., Post-Release Community Supervision, http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/Post-Release-Community-Supervision.html. ↑
- 729
For more information on split sentences, see University of California Berkeley: The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, Thinking Critically About Realignment in California, https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/bccj/Thinking_Critically_3-14-2012.pdf. ↑