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Adult Arrests
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Arrests of individuals ages 17 and older, as reported by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
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Best Practices
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Programs, services, or processes that research or expert opinion has shown to be effective.
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Boot Camp
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A highly structured residential punishment program, modeled after military basic training, for young, first-time offenders on community supervision. Boot camps emphasize physical exercise, strict supervision, and discipline. They may offer education, life skills training, restitution services, and substance abuse education.
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Calendar Year
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January 1 through December 31.
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Conduct Indicating a Need for Supervision Offenses
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Public intoxication, truancy, running away from home, fineable-only offenses transferred to juvenile probation from a municipal or justice court, inhalant abuse, expulsion for violating school disciplinary code, or violation of court order under Services to At-Risk Youth Programs.
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Community Assessment Center
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Center that provides a centralized point of intake and assessment for youth who have engaged in criminal behavior or are at-risk, as well as their families.
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Community Justice Assistance Division
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Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that provides funding, develops standards, and has general oversight over Community Supervision and Corrections Departments within the state of Texas.
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Community Justice
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Embodies two main principles: making the community a full partner with justice agencies to promote public safety, and addressing the needs of the community and the victim through a problem-solving approach (per Janet Reno)
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Community Justice Center
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The state jail facility in Travis County.
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Community Justice Council
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Judicial districts in Texas are required by the Legislature to form a council of local government agencies. The council exists to guide community supervision departments in the development of policy and to develop community justice plans.
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Community Supervision
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(Or probation.) The court-ordered placement of a defendant under supervision for a specified length of time, with court-imposed rules and conditions. May be ordered for misdemeanor or felony offenses and is generally imposed instead of incarceration.
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County Courts
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Comprised of both civil and criminal courts, each headed by an elected judge. Criminal county courts hear the most serious misdemeanor cases in the county.
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County Jail
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Incarceration facility operated by county government.
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Community Supervision and Corrections Division
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County-level department that supervises and helps rehabilitate offenders who are sentenced to community supervision by local courts. CSCDs are under the authority of judicial district courts, but receive partial funding from TDCJ through the Community Justice Assistance Division.
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Day Reporting Center
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A highly structured, non-residential facility that supervises offenders on community supervision. Offenders report to the centers as part of the court-ordered conditions of their supervision. The centers also offer education, job training, counseling and other services.
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Deferred Adjudication
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Type of community supervision. If the conditions of supervision are met for the period set by the court, no record of the crime will be made.
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Developmental Disability
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Severe, chronic disability of an individual 5 years of age or older that is: a) attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination thereof; b) manifested before the individual attains age 22; c) likely to continue indefinitely; d) results in substantial functional limitations in major life activities; and e) reflects the individual's need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, supports, or other assistance.
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District Courts
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The district courts are comprised of both civil and criminal courts, each headed by an elected district judge. Criminal courts hear the most serious felony cases in the county, brought before the courts by the District Attorney's Office.
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Economically Disadvantaged
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Students are considered economically disadvantaged when they qualify for reduced price or free meals. According to the USDA, the eligibility for reduced price meals is 185% of poverty and for free meals, 130% of poverty.
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Electronic Monitoring
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The use of an electronic device placed on an offender on community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision to monitor his/her location and activities.
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Fiscal Year
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Travis County - October 1 through September 30, State of Texas - September 1 through August 31
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Guardian Ad Litem
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An adult appointed by the Court to represent a child's interests in a judicial proceeding. A guardian ad litem is appointed when the child's parent is not present or is not capable of making decisions in the child's best interest.
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Halfway House
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Residential facility with focus on reintegrating offenders into the community following incarceration.
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Index Crimes
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Set of crimes defined by the Uniform Crime Report program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a benchmark in the study of crime trends. Index crimes include violent (murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and nonviolent offenses (burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft).
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Institutional Division
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The TDCJ division responsible for managing and operating the State's prison system for the confinement of adult felons with capital, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree felony convictions. (Commonly referred to as prison system.)
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Intensive Supervision Program
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Type of probation or parole/mandatory supervision for high-risk or high-need offenders that includes stricter surveillance, a more stringent supervision structure, and more intensive participation requirements than under regular supervision.
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Juvenile Arrests
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Arrests of individuals ages 16 and under, as reported by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
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Mandatory Supervision
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For offenders sentenced before September 1, 1996, automatic release from prison provided by law for restricted categories of offenders. Eligible offenders are released on mandatory supervision when their calendar time served added to their good time credit equals the length of their prison sentence.
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Mentally Impaired
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Classification identifying offenders with documented mental disabilities such as a major mental illness.
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Nonviolent Offenses
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Non-personal property and drug offenses.
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Parole
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Conditional release of an offender from prison, in which offender serves remainder of his/her sentence under supervision in the community.
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Parole Division
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TDCJ division responsible for operating state's adult parole system and supervising offenders on parole or mandatory supervision.
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Pretrial Offenders
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Offenders that are awaiting adjudication and are charged with an offense.
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Recidivism
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The return to criminal behavior.
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Referral
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Any occasion when a child is brought to the attention of a juvenile probation department for alleged delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, and some contact occurs between the department and the juvenile or parents.
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Residential Placement
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Placement of a juvenile in a non-secure facility (i.e., foster home, alcohol and drug treatment facility, halfway house, MHMR facility, etc.) or a secure facility (i.e., boot camp, secure county, state, or private facility, etc.).
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Restitution
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Repayment for having committed a crime. Restitution can be made to a victim in a dollar amount to repay for damages or can be made to society by working without pay for a non-profit or government agency.
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Restorative Justice
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Response to criminal behavior that seeks to repair harm caused by criminal behavior. Restorative justice holds offenders accountable and makes the victim the focus of the criminal justice process.
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Revocation
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Removal of offender from community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision due to violation of conditions of supervision or a new crime.
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Substance Abuse Felony Punishment
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Secure residential program that provides substance abuse treatment and counseling to non-violent felony offenders whose substance abuse problem contributed significantly to committing a crime. Upon completion of the program, offenders are returned to community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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School Year
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Fall semester through summer semester. SY 1999, for example, represents the 1998 - 1999 school year.
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SHORT
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(Commonly referred to as drug court) A drug intervention program designed to provide early opportunity for rehabilitation and a cost-effective alternative to traditional criminal case processing
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Specialized Caseloads
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Grouping of offenders on community supervision who share a particular problem, such as mental or physical impairments. Caseloads are kept small and are supervised by officers who are trained to work with that particular problem area.
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State Jail Division
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TDCJ division that operates secure facilities designed to house offenders who are convicted of state jail felonies.
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State Jail Felony
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Certain offenses (primarily property crimes and low-level controlled substance offenses) committed after September 1, 1994, are classified as state jail felonies. Also referred to as 4th degree felony offenses.
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Status Offenses
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Juvenile offenses that are not criminal when committed by adults (e.g., runaway, and truancy).
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Super-Intensive Supervision Program
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Highest level of probation or parole/mandatory supervision for potentially dangerous offenders that includes electronic monitoring and 24-hour-a-day schedules.
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Supervisory Caution
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Term for a variety of summary, non-judicial dispositions that Juvenile Probation may make of a case. Supervisory cautions may include referral of the juvenile to a social service agency or program, contacting the parents to inform them of the child's activities, or simply warning the child about his or her activities.
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice
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Agency that manages the operation of the state's prison, parole, and state jail systems. The agency also provides funding, training, and certain oversight of community supervision. The largest state agency in Texas.
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Up-Front Time
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A sentence to a county jail or state jail facility as a condition of state jail probation.
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Victim
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A person harmed by another in the commission of a crime.
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Victim Impact Statement
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Audiotape, videotape, or written form used by criminal justice authorities to record the impact of an offense on a victim. May be submitted by the victim, a family member of the victim, or the guardian of a victim. Victim impact statements are considered during sentencing proceedings and at all parole panel reviews.
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Note: Many of the definitions listed above are adapted from the glossaries on the Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council website and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.
