Graduated Responses

The term “graduated responses” refers to a system of responses that provide for the easing of restrictions for continued compliant behavior and progressively more severe or restrictive responses for continued non-compliant behavior. Easing of restrictions can include decreased reporting requirements, granting of travel permits and requests for early discharges. More severe responses for noncompliance can include increasing the reporting requirement, reprimands by departmental officials and/or by the sentencing court, having to perform community service, and greater restrictions on movement. The use of these responses must be applied fairly, consistently and predictably, soon after the commission of the non-compliant behaviors and proportionate to the severity of the non-compliant behavior. If applied in this way, graduated responses can stop misbehavior early, thus reducing the odds that probationers will commit more serious violations that could result in a period of incarceration.

This department offers a continuum of graduated responses that can be applied to offender misbehavior. In addition to those mentioned above, our continuum of responses range from our supervised community service program on one end to more restrictive options such as our Day Reporting program or Electronic Monitoring program on the other.