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 Minnesota from 2018 through 2020.
From 2018 to 2020, Minnesota saw a 29 percent decline in the number of prison admissions due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
| Total Admissions | Violation Admissions | Technical Violation Admissions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 7767 | 4938 | 2771 |
| 2019 | 7123 | 4470 | 2467 |
| 2020 | 5553 | 3488 | 1910 |
| Total | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total admissions | 7,767 | 7,123 | 5,553 | |
| Total Violation admissions | 4,938 | 4,470 | 3,488 | |
| Probation admissions | 1,774 | 1,615 | 1,285 | |
| Parole admissions | 3,164 | 2,855 | 2,203 | |
| Total Technical Violation admissions | 2,771 | 2,467 | 1,910 | |
| Probation admissions | ||||
| Parole admissions | 2,771 | 2,467 | 1,910 | |
| Total New Offense admissions | 393 | 388 | 293 | |
| Probation admissions | ||||
| Parole admissions | 393 | 388 | 293 | |
From 2018 to 2020, Minnesota saw a 29 percent decline in the number of people in prison due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
| Total Population | Violation Population | Technical Violation Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 9821 | 3033 | 2499 |
| 2019 | 9577 | 2911 | 2308 |
| 2020 | 8330 | 2166 | 1633 |
| Total | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total population | 9,821 | 9,577 | 8,330 | |
| Total Violation population | 3,033 | 2,911 | 2,166 | |
| Probation population | 1,305 | 1,174 | 973 | |
| Parole population | 1,728 | 1,737 | 1,193 | |
| Total Technical Violation population | 2,499 | 2,308 | 1,633 | |
| Probation population | 1,305 | 1,174 | 973 | |
| Parole population | 1,194 | 1,134 | 660 | |
| Total New Offense population | 534 | 603 | 533 | |
| Probation population | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Parole population | 534 | 603 | 533 | |
Additional State Notes
Admissions data is from FY2018 to FY2020. Population data from 2018 to 2020 is from a snapshot date of June 30. For admissions, a breakdown of technical probation and new offense probation violations was not available. New offense probation data was also not available for the state prison population.
There are three probation supervision delivery systems in Minnesota (largely county-operated), and mechanisms have not been created for the various systems to report reasons for revocation. The state abolished parole in 1982 but maintained a period of post-prison supervision (outside of probation) on a determinate basis. All prison sentences include a period of supervision—two-thirds of the sentence is served as incarceration, and one-third of the sentence is served on supervision—and the Minnesota Department of Corrections has the authority to make adjustments to incarceration and supervision time depending on a person’s behavior while incarcerated.
Technical parole violations may include people who ultimately receive a new felony conviction.
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.