2018 Arkansas Code
Title 16 - Practice, Procedure, and Courts
Subtitle 6 - Criminal Procedure Generally
Chapter 93 - Probation and Parole
Subchapter 3 - Probation and Suspended Imposition of Sentence
§ 16-93-306. Probation generally -- Supervision

(a)

• (1) The Director of the Department of Community Correction with the advice of the Board of Corrections shall establish written policies and procedures governing the supervision of probationers designed to enhance public safety and to assist the probationers in integrating into society.

• (2)

  • (A) The supervision of probationers shall be based on evidence-based practices, including a validated risk-needs assessment.

  • (B) Decisions shall target the probationer's criminal risk factors with appropriate supervision and treatment.

(b) A probation officer shall:

• (1) Investigate all cases referred to him or her by the director, the sentencing judge, or the prosecuting attorney;

• (2) Furnish to each probationer under his or her supervision a written statement of the conditions of probation and instruct the probationer that he or she is required to stay in compliance with the conditions of probation or risk revocation under § 16-93-308;

• (3) Develop a case plan for each individual who is assessed as a moderate to high risk to reoffend based on the risk and needs assessment that targets the criminal risk factors identified in the assessment, is responsive to individual characteristics, and provides supervision of offenders according to that case plan;

• (4) Stay informed of the probationer's conduct and condition through visitation, required reporting, or other methods, and report to the sentencing court of that information upon request;

• (5) Use practicable and suitable methods that are consistent with evidence-based practices to aid and encourage a probationer to improve his or her conduct and condition and to reduce the risk of recidivism;

• (6)

  • (A) Conduct a validated risk-needs assessment of the probationer, including without limitation criminal risk factors and specific individual needs.

  • (B) The actuarial assessment shall include an initial screening and, if necessary, a comprehensive assessment.

  • (C) The results of the risk-needs assessment shall assist in making decisions that are consistent with evidence-based practices on the type of supervision and services necessary to each parolee; and

• (7) Receive annual training on evidence-based practices and criminal risk factors, as well as instruction on how to target these factors to reduce recidivism.

(c)

• (1) The Department of Community Correction shall allocate resources, including the assignment of probation officers, to focus on moderate-risk and high-risk offenders as determined by the actuarial assessment provided in subdivision (b)(6) of this section.

• (2) The Department of Community Correction shall require public and private treatment and service providers that receive state funds for the treatment of or service for probationers to use evidence-based programs and practices.

(d)

• (1) The Department of Community Correction shall have the authority to sanction probationers administratively without utilizing the revocation process under § 16-93-307.

• (2)

  • (A) The Department of Community Correction shall develop an intermediate sanctions procedure and grid to guide a probation officer in determining the appropriate response to a violation of conditions of supervision.

  • (B) Intermediate sanctions administered by the Department of Community Correction are required to conform to the sanctioning grid.

• (3) Intermediate sanctions shall include without limitation:

  • (A) Day reporting;

  • (B) Community service;

  • (C) Increased substance abuse screening and or treatment;

  • (D) Increased monitoring, including electronic monitoring and home confinement; and

  • (E)

    • (i) Incarceration in a county jail for no more than seven (7) days or incarceration in a Department of Community Correction or Department of Correction facility for no more than one hundred eighty (180) days.

    • (ii)

      • (a) Incarceration as an intermediate sanction shall not be used more than six (6) times with an individual probationer.

      • (b) A probationer shall accumulate no more than thirty (30) days' incarceration in a county jail or no more than three hundred sixty (360) days' incarceration in a Department of Community Correction or Department of Correction facility as an intermediate sanction before the probation officer recommends a violation of the person's probation under § 16-93-307.

      • (c) A probationer is subject to a period of incarceration of:

        • (1) Up to ninety (90) days in a Department of Community Correction or Department of Correction facility for a technical conditions violation; and

        • (2) Exactly one hundred eighty (180) days in a Department of Community Correction or Department of Correction facility for a serious conditions violation.

      • (d) A probationer may not be incarcerated more than two (2) times as a probation sanction in a Department of Community Correction or Department of Correction facility.

• (4) The Department of Community Correction shall notify the prosecuting attorney in writing when a probationer has been incarcerated due to an administrative sanction under this subsection and shall include an explanation of the cause for incarceration as well as the result of the sanction, if applicable.

(e) Any time in custody for which the probationer is held before a period of incarceration under this section is administered shall not count as a period of incarceration ordered under subdivision (d)(3)(E)(ii)(a) of this section or toward the total accumulation of days of incarceration as set forth in subdivision (d)(3)(E)(ii)(b) of this section.

(f) A sanction under this section is not available to a person serving a suspended imposition of sentence.

(g) A period of incarceration under this section:

• (1) May be reduced by the Department of Correction or the Department of Community Correction for good behavior and successful program completion; and

• (2) Shall not be reduced under this section for more than fifty percent (50%) of the total time of incarceration ordered to be served.

(h) (1) (A) A probationer subject to an administrative probation sanction under subsection (d) of this section does not have the right to an attorney at the administrative probation sanction but may elect instead to have a probation sanction heard in circuit court as provided in this subchapter and in which he or she has the right to an attorney.

• (B) This subsection does not prohibit a probationer from conferring with a privately retained attorney during the administrative probation sanction process.

  • (2)

    • (A) The Department of Community Correction shall inform the probationer who is subject to a probation sanction under this section in writing that he or she may elect to have the probation sanction heard in circuit court.

    • (B) If the probationer elects to have his or her probation sanction heard in circuit court, the Department of Community Correction shall notify the prosecuting attorney and cause a petition to hear the probation sanction to be filed in the circuit court within ten (10) days of the election.