Probation & Parole/Post-Release Supervision (Basic Supervision)
Parole/Post-Release Supervision
Parole/post-release supervision is early release from state prison to community supervision. The offender on parole/post-release supervision must follow strict conditions of release, which are set by the Post-Prison Transfer Board and include reporting to a Community Supervision Officer. A revocation hearing judge determines if an offender on parole/post-release supervision violates their conditions of supervision and if re-incarceration in prison or a Community Correction Center is appropriate.
Probation
Probation is a court-ordered alternative to prison where the offender remains in the community and is subject to conditions of behavior. The offender must report regularly to a probation officer. Violation of probation terms and conditions may result in revocation of probation, by the sentencing judge, where the offender may be sent to prison or a community correction center or have other sanctions imposed.
Parole/Post-Release Supervision and Probation Services
ACC has employees at each state prison and residential Community Correction Center to manage the transfer of offenders from incarceration to parole/post-release supervision in the community. Community Supervision Officers manage the offenders under supervision in the community.
Each offender is assigned a supervising Community Supervision Officer and office location for reporting. These offices are located throughout the state.
ACC uses a comprehensive statewide case management system to assist in the supervision of offenders. Offenders are offered a wide variety of programming options to help decrease the likelihood of recidivating. Certified substance abuse program counselors provide treatment to offenders dealing with alcohol, drug, and tobacco use addiction. Offenders may also be referred by Community Supervision Officers to programs such as financial education, employment skills, anger management, life skills, and general education.
Parole/post-release supervision and probation community-based supervision provides the opportunity for offenders to live and work in the community while completing the remainder of their sentence. Random drug screening is generally required and offenders are required to pay a supervision fee. High priority is placed on victim’s rights and the monitoring of restitution payments by offenders.
Specialty Courts
ACC utilizes specialty courts to target medium and high risk offenders. Probation offenders meeting the requirements of a specialty court may be judicially transferred into the program.
Adult specialty courts supervised by ACC include:
Drug Court
Drug Court provides intensive supervision and treatment to drug offenders via a comprehensive team of professionals, including judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, counselors, treatment providers, and supervision officers. The team provides appropriate incentives, sanctions, and services with an emphasis on evidence-based substance abuse treatment. Successful completion of the drug court program may result in the dismissal of charges, reduced sentences, lesser penalties, or any combination thereof.
Veterans’ Court
Veterans’ Courts are specially geared to the treatment of military veterans who pled guilty to a criminal offense before being placed on probation supervision. Offenders are subject to random drug screening, treatment participation, court appearances, and mandatory group counseling. These services are provided in collaboration with the Veterans’ Administration, as well as local mental health and substance abuse facilities.
HOPE (Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) and Swift Courts
HOPE/Swift Courts were created by the Public Safety Improvement Act of 2011. These courts provide honest opportunity probation with swift and certain accountability utilizing graduated sanctions. Offenders participating in swift courts are high risk probationers who are not complying with their current probation requirements. The goal of the program is to help offenders complete their sentence and sustain a healthy lifestyle without re-offending.
Mental Health Courts
Mid-South Health Systems partnered with ACC to offer treatment oriented programming for probationers with a mental health disorder. The target population is offenders who have a misdemeanor with a six to twelve month sentence. The program, similar to drug court, diverts offenders into a treatment program in lieu of jail time.
Community Correction Centers
Community-based residential settings offer the offender structure, supervision, drug/alcohol treatment, educational and vocational programs, employment counseling, socialization and life skills programs, community work transition, as well as other forms of treatment and programs as part of a Modified Therapeutic Community.
Offenders with non-violent or non-sex related offenses may be ordered to a Community Correction Center (CCC) in one of three ways:
Judicial Transfer – The offender is sentenced to ADC with a transfer to incarceration at a CCC where the offender is sentenced on a target offense to six years or less. Those who complete therapeutic programming may be released on parole/post-release supervision, if approved by the Post-Prison Transfer Board.
Probation Plus – Probationers may be ordered by the judge, as an added condition of their probation, to serve up to 365 days of incarceration at a CCC. Probation Plus offenders remain under the authority of the court and return to probation once they have completed their confinement.
Drug Court Short-Term Treatment – Offenders participating in a drug court program may be sanctioned by their judge to 30, 60, or 90 days of intensive drug treatment at a CCC. Drug court offenders remain under the authority of the court and return to drug court supervision once they have completed their confinement.
Drug court offenders may also be sanctioned by their Judge to incarceration at a CCC for up to 365 days.
Community Correction Center Locations:
- Central Arkansas CCC
- East Central Arkansas CCC
- Northeast Arkansas CCC
- Northwest Arkansas CCC
- Omega Supervision Sanction Center
- Southwest Arkansas CCC
The goal of these residential service facilities is to facilitate development of permanent lifestyle changes so residents will become successful, contributing, law-abiding citizens while both in the center and upon return to the community. Emphasis is placed on resolution of personal problems, responsibility, and accountability for one’s behavior.
Community Service Centers Frequently Asked Questions
Omega Supervision Sanction Center Frequently Asked Questions
Community Correction Centers Programming Options 2022 Criteria
Interstate Compact
Functions: The Interstate Compact staff serves as the communication liaisons between Arkansas offices and out-of-state offices and are responsible for processing the initial investigation requests for transfer of supervision from and to other states, progress reports, and extraditions. The Compact Office also provides official notice of the Community Supervision Officer’s acceptance or rejection of the offenders for interstate transfer of supervision.
Learn more about ICOTS from the following links:
Institutional Release Services
Institutional Release Services is the element of the Arkansas Community Correction that is responsible for identifying when an inmate is eligible for parole/post-release supervision consideration, scheduling the inmate for a parole/post-release supervision hearing when eligible, and releasing those inmates approved by the Arkansas Post-Prison Transfer Board.
Substance Abuse Program Leaders
ACC employs Substance Abuse Program Leaders (SAPL) who provide services for substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders. Services include outpatient substance abuse and mental health related counseling, life and social skills, employment readiness, health education, and referral services.
Supervision Sanction Program
The Supervision Sanction Program (SSP) operates as an alternative sanction for male and female probation and post-release supervision technical violators. The SSP is an intensive residential program followed by aftercare services while under community supervision. A resident completes the program by progressing through a phase system. A resident’s length of time in treatment is based upon their program track (90 or 180 days) as well as progress with participation in treatment. A resident may be eligible for early release if criteria is met while in the program. Early release may be granted for up to fifty percent of their total time ordered to be served if participation and progress in treatment meet the eligibility criteria.
Sex Offender Aftercare Program
The Sex Offender Aftercare Program has specialized Community Supervision Officers who supervise high profile, level 3 and 4 sex offenders in the community. The program goal is to increase public safety and provide offender accountability through the containment of sexual offenders using a multidisciplinary approach.
The program has Community Supervision Officers who have specialized training in such areas as mental health, voice stress analysis and polygraph analysis.
Transitional Housing Information
The transitional housing program provides housing for offenders who have been transferred or are on parole/post-release supervision from ADC granted by the Post-Prison Transfer Board or has been placed on probation by a circuit or district court. Contact information can be found from the Office Locations area or from the PDF below.
Transitional Housing Facilities
Application and Regulations
Transitional Housing Application
Applications should be mailed to:
Transitional Housing Coordinator
1302 Pike Avenue Suite B
North Little Rock, AR 72114
Victim Services
VINE – Arkansas Victim Notification Program
VINE Online Registration
Volunteer Program
Volunteers provide services to clients in ACC Community Correction Centers and to residents on parole/post-release supervision or probation. Volunteers are persons who, of their own free will and without compensation or expectation of compensation, provide services to or on behalf of ACC.
Mission Statement:
“To enhance public safety by encouraging a crime-free lifestyle and providing cost-effective, evidence-based programs in the supervision and treatment of adult offenders.”
Goals:
- Encourage, support, and recognize community involvement
- Expand and enhance services and opportunities to clients
- Provide benefits to ACC, our clients, and the community
- Encourage ACC employees to volunteer in their communities