Post-Release Revocation Terms

Post-release supervision is a lot more common than it used to be. There were about 2,000 on post-release supervision back in 2011 before the Justice Reinvestment Act added PRS for lower-level (Class F–I) felons. Today there are over 12,500 people on post-release supervision, and PRS revocations account for more entries to prison than probation revocations. Nevertheless, some aspects of PRS still seem unfamiliar. Today’s post takes a quick look at a frequently asked question related to what happens when a person is returned to prison for a violation of PRS. Defendants on post-release supervision are subject to conditions of supervision set by the Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission in Raleigh. When a defendant is alleged to have violated a condition of supervision, he or she can be brought before the Commission for a violation hearing. (As a practical matter many defendants waive their right to a full hearing before the Commission.) Similar to the law governing probationers, the post-release supervision law allows the Commission to fully revoke only those supervisees who have committed a new criminal offense or absconded. The PRS law also allows the Commission to revoke for any violation committed by a person under supervision for a sex crime. G.S. 15A-1368.3(c)(1). For other violations, a supervisee can be returned to prison for only three months—a period of confinement similar to CRV for probationers—after which he or she is returned to supervision. Id. When post-release supervisees are revoked, they are “returned to prison up to the time remaining on their [...]