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Post-Conviction Supervision - Judicial Business 2017

Persons serving terms of supervised release on that date following release from correctional institutions fell 1 percent to 116,708 and amounted to 87 percent of all persons under supervision.

Table 8
Federal Post-Conviction Supervision
Fiscal Years 2013 - 2017

Year	Persons Received Total	Persons Received Total Less Transfers	Persons Removed Total	Persons Removed Total Less Transfers	Persons Under Supervision on September 30
2013	62,940	58,844	62,463	58,345	131,869
2014	62,993	59,159	61,076	57,181	132,858
2015	64,496	60,770	60,844	57,075	135,468
2016	65,939	61,994	62,951	58,970	137,410
2017	61,352	57,575	62,938	59,083	134,731
Percent Change 2016 - 2017	-7.0	-7.1	0.0	0.2	-1.9

Persons under supervision in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2017, whose cases involved probation imposed by district and magistrate judges fell 6 percent to 16,893 from the previous year and accounted for 13 percent of all persons under post-conviction supervision. The number of parole cases open at the end of 2017 dropped 11 percent to 987 (parole is not available for persons sentenced for federal offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987).

Excluding transfers, the number of persons received for supervision during 2017 fell 7 percent to 57,575. The number of persons released from correctional institutions and received for supervised release decreased 7 percent to 49,048. For persons entering the system this year, probation cases decreased nearly 7 percent to 7,610, and parole cases (including cases involving special parole, military parole, and mandatory release) fell 2 percent to 324.

Forty-eight percent of persons under post-conviction supervision had been convicted of drug offenses. Nineteen percent had been convicted of property offenses. Thirteen percent had been convicted of firearms offenses. These percentages have changed little since 2013.

The number of post-conviction supervision cases closed (including those involving transfers out of districts and deaths) held steady, rising less than 1 percent to 60,523. The proportion of post-conviction cases terminated successfully dropped 2 percent to 70 percent. Of those cases closed successfully, 20 percent were closed by early termination, down 1 percent from the previous year.

Technical violations led to 69 percent of the 16,857 revocations of post-conviction supervision reported, down from 70 percent in 2016. New offenses accounted for the remaining revocations and for 9 percent of all 55,454 supervision cases terminated (excluding transfers out and deaths).

Comparing data for the last days of fiscal years 2013 and 2017 reveals that the number of persons under post-conviction supervision was 2 percent higher in 2017. Offenders convicted of drug offenses remained unchanged at 48 percent of persons under post-conviction supervision. Those convicted of property offenses fell from 22 percent to 19 percent of the total, and those convicted of firearms offenses increased from 12 percent to 13 percent of the total. Persons serving terms of supervised release following release from a correctional institution rose 2 percent over the past five years. In 2017, they represented 87 percent of all persons under supervision, up from 83 percent in 2013. These increases likely stemmed from earlier growth in criminal defendant filings.

For data on post-conviction supervision, see Table 8 and the E series of tables. 

Investigative Reports

The number of presentence reports prepared by probation officers decreased 2 percent to 63,927. Ninety-three percent of the reports (59,644) were presentence guideline reports, which are comprehensive investigative reports prepared in felony or Class A misdemeanor cases for which the U.S. Sentencing Commission has promulgated guidelines. Modified presentence reports, which are less comprehensive, represented 6 percent of total presentence investigative reports. Non-guideline reports, which are prepared for felony and Class A misdemeanor cases for which the U.S. Sentencing Commission has not promulgated guidelines, constituted less than 1 percent of investigative reports (85).

Substance Abuse Treatment

Federal offenders receive substance abuse treatment from a variety of sources—state programs, local programs, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and Judiciary-funded substance abuse treatment services. The data presented here reflect only Judiciary-funded substance abuse treatment and exclude costs associated with substance abuse testing.

Of the 76,417 offenders under supervision with court-ordered substance abuse treatment conditions, 26,702 received Judiciary-funded treatment (up 346 offenders from 2016). The federal Judiciary spent an average of $1,512 per offender (up $12) for a total of $33.1 million (up $700 thousand). Nationwide, 35 percent of offenders with conditions requiring substance abuse treatment received Judiciary-funded treatment, up from 34 percent in 2016.

For additional information on Judiciary-funded substance abuse treatment services in the federal probation system, see Table S-13.