NCJ Number
85413
Date Published
1979
Length
78 pages
Annotation
From June 1, 1978, to May 31, 1979, approximately 700 convicted persons were sentenced to perform community service work in Hawaii.
Abstract
The total number of hours sentenced was 17,837, equivalent to 2,230 working days. The range of hours were from 7 to 200 in the circuit court, 3 to 90 in the family court, and 1 to 150 in the district court. The violated offenses ran the full spectrum of the penal code. Community service sentencing can be used to provide manpower for public service work but does not seem to be an appropriate method for providing employment training opportunities. Community service sentencing adds a new dimension to criminal sentencing, as it can benefit both the offender and the community. Judges are generally satisfied with penal code coverage of community service sentencing. However, they want informal written guidelines covering offender selection and sentencing criteria and standardized administrative procedures covering postsentence case processing and followup. Study data and proposed guidelines are included. (Author summary modified)