Comparison of Recidivism Studies: AOUSC, USSC, and BJS

Since 2010, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) has produced annual recidivism statistics on offenders placed on probation and supervised release. Periodically, Federal Probation publishes articles that describe the most recent recidivism statistics and changes over time. Because recent reports by other federal agencies on federal recidivism conveyed different recidivism rates, the author explains the differing definitions and measures of recidivism, timespans, and other varying parameters of the three studies.