50 State Reports
Supervision Violation Data Snapshot
States across the country saw changes in their prison admissions and populations due to supervision violations in 2020. But some states were already experiencing reductions in violation admissions and population prior to the pandemic. This snapshot shows available supervision violation data for Iowa from 2018 through 2020.
From 2018 to 2020, Iowa saw a 32 percent decline in the number of prison admissions due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
| Total Admissions | Violation Admissions | Technical Violation Admissions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 6227 | 3083 | 768 |
| 2019 | 6287 | 3135 | 852 |
| 2020 | 3931 | 2105 | 427 |
| Total | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total admissions | 6,227 | 6,287 | 3,931 | |
| Total Violation admissions | 3,083 | 3,135 | 2,105 | |
| Probation admissions | 1,951 | 1,881 | 1,238 | |
| Parole admissions | 1,132 | 1,254 | 867 | |
| Total Technical Violation admissions | 768 | 852 | 427 | |
| Probation admissions | 425 | 427 | 228 | |
| Parole admissions | 343 | 425 | 199 | |
| Total New Offense admissions | 2,315 | 2,283 | 1,678 | |
| Probation admissions | 1,526 | 1,454 | 1,010 | |
| Parole admissions | 789 | 829 | 668 | |
From 2018 to 2020, Iowa saw a 14 percent decline in the number of people in prison due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
| Total Population | Violation Population | Technical Violation Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 8363 | 2675 | 1166 |
| 2019 | 8431 | 2682 | 1192 |
| 2020 | 7528 | 2307 | 793 |
| Total | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total population | 8,363 | 8,431 | 7,528 | |
| Total Violation population | 2,675 | 2,682 | 2,307 | |
| Probation population | 1,790 | 1,768 | 1,477 | |
| Parole population | 885 | 914 | 830 | |
| Total Technical Violation population | 1,166 | 1,192 | 793 | |
| Probation population | 855 | 848 | 0 | |
| Parole population | 311 | 344 | 793 | |
| Total New Offense population | 1,509 | 1,490 | 1,514 | |
| Probation population | 935 | 920 | 1,477 | |
| Parole population | 574 | 570 | 37 | |
Additional State Notes
Prison admissions due to supervision violations include short incarceration stays as supervision sanctions (1- to 180-day sanctions). Prison admissions due to parole violations include work release and special sentence parole supervision.
In addition to other sanction options reported, Iowa uses stays in a corrections residential facility as a sanction for both probation and parole.
Iowa has been undergoing changes in their administrative databases by modifying the programming for the way in which new court commitments and prison admissions for technical violations are determined and captured. Data provided in the 2021 survey are believed to be correct but programming improvements continue to be developed.
Whether an incarceration is the result of a new offense or technical violation is often difficult and problematic to delineate, even in states with available data. Most states do not consider a supervision violation to be the result of a new offense unless a new felony conviction is present, meaning technical violations may include misdemeanor convictions or new arrests. "Prison" includes county jail if the county was reimbursed by the state for a person’s incarceration, which occurs in some, but not all, states. Supervision violations may include revocations (i.e., unsuccessful terminations of a supervision and completion of a sentence in prison or jail) or short-term sanctions (i.e., probation or parole jurisdiction is maintained and the person is incarcerated for a short period of time in prison or jail). Not all states impose or include short-term sanctions in their count of supervision violations.