NCJ Number
170241
Date Published
1995
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The Felony Cohort Project was initiated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Community Justice Assistance Division (TDCJ/CJAD) and the Criminal Justice Policy Council (CJPC) in July 1993, and detailed statewide information was obtained about felony offenders placed on community supervision.
Abstract
Data forms were completed on all original felony community supervision intakes during October 1993. The data collection instrument contained 64 variables in 7 categories: demographics, current offense, criminal history, social history, substance abuse, probation sanctions, and case classification risk/needs assessment. All offenders in the sample of 4,245 offenders had been convicted of at least one felony offense that resulted in placement on community supervision during October 1993. Approximately 14 percent of the sample were under indirect supervision at the time data forms were completed. Data indicated 38 percent of the offenders were white, 34 percent were Hispanic, and 28 percent were black; about 60 percent were 30 years of age and younger. Of the total sample, 16 percent committed a first- degree felony, 32 percent committed a second-degree felony, and 52 percent committed a third-degree felony as their most serious offense. Ten percent of offenders placed on community supervision used a weapon in their offense, and the most frequently used weapon was a firearm. Felony supervision included deferred adjudication supervision, adjudicated community supervision, parole, and mandatory supervision. Of the 15 percent of offenders with one or more prior supervisions, approximately 25 percent had one or more prior felony revocations. Of the offenders with a prior prison sentence, 59 percent were the result of a community supervision revocation. Of 904 offenders placed into a program, 68 percent of placements were nonresidential. Future research projects planned by the TDCJ/CJAD and the CJPC are briefly described. 4 tables and 8 figures