Post-Conviction Supervision — Judicial Business 2023
A total of 122,824 persons were under post-conviction supervision on September 30, 2023, a decrease of less than 1 percent from one year earlier (down 48 persons).
Persons serving terms of supervised release on that date following release from correctional institutions grew less than 1 percent from the previous year to 110,112 (up 331 persons) and amounted to 90 percent of all persons under supervision.
Cases of persons under supervision in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2023, that involved probation imposed by district and magistrate judges declined 2 percent to 11,999 from the previous year and accounted for 10 percent of all persons under post-conviction supervision. The number of parole cases open at the end of 2023 dropped 12 percent to 530 (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 2023 fell 3 percent to 56,920. The number of persons released from correctional institutions and received for supervised release declined 2 percent to 50,760. For persons entering the system this year, probation cases went down 8 percent to 5,643, and parole cases (including cases involving special parole, military parole, and mandatory release) decreased 22 percent to 171.
Forty-two percent of persons under post-conviction supervision had been convicted of drug offenses. Fourteen percent had been convicted of property offenses. Eighteen percent had been convicted of firearms offenses. These percentages have changed little in the last five years.
The number of post-conviction supervision cases closed (including those involving transfers out of districts and deaths) fell 3 percent to 56,436. The proportion of post-conviction cases terminated successfully decreased 1 percent to 67 percent. Of those cases closed successfully, 25 percent were closed by early termination, the same as the previous year.
Technical violations led to 68 percent of the 16,856 revocations of post-conviction supervision reported, the same as the previous year. New offenses accounted for the remaining revocations and for 11 percent of all 50,750 supervision cases terminated (excluding transfers out and deaths).
Comparing data for the last days of fiscal years 2019 and 2023 reveals that the number of persons under post-conviction supervision was 5 percent lower in 2023. Offenders under post-conviction supervision who had been convicted of drug offenses dropped from 46 percent of the total to 42 percent. Those convicted of property offenses fell from 17 percent to 14 percent of the total. Those convicted of firearms offenses increased from 15 percent to 18 percent of the total. Persons serving terms of supervised release following release from a correctional institution fell 1 percent over the past five years. In 2023, they represented 90 percent of all persons under supervision, up from 88 percent in 2019.
For data on post-conviction supervision, see Table 8 and the E series of tables.
Investigative Reports
The number of full presentence reports prepared by probation officers decreased 1 percent to 62,899. Ninety-eight percent of the reports (61,776) 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 1 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 (252).
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 69,291 offenders under supervision with court-ordered substance abuse treatment conditions, 19,518 received judiciary-funded treatment (down 1,491 offenders from 2022). The federal Judiciary spent an average of $1,377 per offender (down $42) for a total of $23.4 million (down $1.7 million). Nationwide, 28 percent of offenders with conditions requiring substance abuse treatment received judiciary-funded treatment, down from 30 percent in 2022.
For additional information on judiciary-funded substance abuse treatment services in the federal probation system, see Table S-13.