ABSTRACT
Many people do not understand the difference between parole and probation. It used to be quite simple, in that probation was a sentence to supervision in the community instead of a prison sentence and parole was a supervised release from a prison sentence. With split sentencing and shock incarceration , the terms became less clear because those forms of sentencing involve a short period of incarceration before being supervised in the community by probation officers. The better differentiation to make today would be in the administration of the two types of correctional supervision. Recall that probation is administered by probation officers who report to the sentencing judge. While probation itself may be under the executive branch or the judicial branch, it is always the
sentencing judge who determines revocation or makes changes to the conditions attached to the probation order. Parole officers, on the other hand, submit their violation reports to the paroling authority. Parole may be a division of the institutional corrections division or an independent agency. The parole board is the releasing body and also conducts violation hearings or, in larger states, delegates that function to hearing officers. The sentencing judge is not involved at all in parole decisions. One other difference between probation and parole is that while probation exists in all 50 states, some states have abolished parole.
