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 Texas from 2018 through 2020.
Admissions
From 2018 to 2020, Texas saw a 45 percent decline in the number of prison admissions due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
Total Admissions
Violation Admissions
Technical Violation Admissions
2018
65710
28500
12785
2019
62621
25618
10988
2020
37286
15667
6222
Total
2018
2019
2020
Total admissions
65,710
62,621
37,286
Total Violation admissions
28,500
25,618
15,667
Probation admissions
21,121
18,945
11,915
Parole admissions
7,379
6,673
3,752
Total Technical Violation admissions
12,785
10,988
6,222
Probation admissions
10,688
9,226
5,334
Parole admissions
2,097
1,762
888
Total New Offense admissions
15,715
14,630
9,445
Probation admissions
10,433
9,719
6,581
Parole admissions
5,282
4,911
2,864
Population
From 2018 to 2020, Texas saw a 25 percent decline in the number of people in prison due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
Total Population
Violation Population
Technical Violation Population
2018
145019
34296
2328
2019
142169
32818
2128
2020
121119
25822
1594
Total
2018
2019
2020
Total population
145,019
142,169
121,119
Total Violation population
34,296
32,818
25,822
Probation population
25,708
24,717
19,350
Parole population
8,588
8,101
6,472
Total Technical Violation population
2,328
2,128
1,594
Probation population
Parole population
2,328
2,128
1,594
Total New Offense population
6,260
5,973
4,878
Probation population
Parole population
6,260
5,973
4,878
Additional State Notes
For population, Texas did not provide a breakdown of technical probation and new offense probation violations. All admissions data include prison, state jail, and Substance Abuse Facility Program (SAFP) admissions. Other alternative and substance addiction and mental health treatment facility admissions are not included. Only people on felony probation can legally be revoked to prison. Admissions due to parole violations include Mandatory Supervision and Discretionary Mandatory Supervision violation admissions, as well as parole violation admissions to SAFP.
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.
