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 Washington from 2018 through 2020.
Admissions
From 2018 to 2020, Washington saw a 37 percent decline in the number of prison admissions due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
Total Admissions
Violation Admissions
Technical Violation Admissions
2018
8100
3363
1417
2019
7697
3174
1329
2020
4834
2120
1032
Total
2018
2019
2020
Total admissions
8,100
7,697
4,834
Total Violation admissions
3,363
3,174
2,120
Probation admissions
0
0
0
Parole admissions
3,363
3,174
2,120
Total Technical Violation admissions
1,417
1,329
1,032
Probation admissions
0
0
0
Parole admissions
1,417
1,329
1,032
Total New Offense admissions
1,946
1,845
1,088
Probation admissions
0
0
0
Parole admissions
1,946
1,845
1,088
Population
From 2018 to 2020, Washington saw a 33 percent decline in the number of people in prison due to supervision violations.
The breakdown
Total Population
Violation Population
Technical Violation Population
2018
20325
7988
2662
2019
19806
7665
2738
2020
15726
5351
1658
Total
2018
2019
2020
Total population
20,325
19,806
15,726
Total Violation population
7,988
7,665
5,351
Probation population
0
0
0
Parole population
7,988
7,665
5,351
Total Technical Violation population
2,662
2,738
1,658
Probation population
0
0
0
Parole population
2,662
2,738
1,658
Total New Offense population
5,326
4,927
3,693
Probation population
0
0
0
Parole population
5,326
4,927
3,693
Additional State Notes
Washington’s delivery of supervision is called “community custody” and includes mostly supervision periods following release from incarceration but may also include supervision associated with a sentencing alternative that does not include incarceration. Community supervision includes prison-only, supervision-only, and split sentence populations. For the purposes of this report, these were combined as parole/post-release supervision. Population data includes people admitted locally to county jails/supervision violation centers due to a supervision violation for up to 30 days in state-funded jail beds. Approximately one-quarter of the revocation population reported was incarcerated for these sanctions, but will not be fully revoked. Washington does not consider this population to be part of the Department of Corrections prison population, and as a result, this report will not match data from other published reports.
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.
