House Arrest Rules & Regulations
- House arrest laws are determined by state law.law courts image by Peter Helin from Fotolia.com
House arrest, legally termed "community control," offers an alternative to incarceration for offenders meeting certain conditions. Legislated at the state level and tailored to the seriousness of the crime, the specific conditions of house arrest may vary widely among cases. An offender may be restricted to his home 24 hours a day, bound to wear an electronic monitor or obliged to make regular contact with a parole officer. Know the rules of community control to understand how they affect the offender who, relieved of incarceration, lives in her own home. - Instead of facing incarceration, offenders meeting specified criteria may be eligible for house arrest on a voluntary basis. In many states, these qualifying offenders include probation violators who have been charged due to technical violations and felons ineligible for regular probation due to the seriousness of their infractions. In the state of Florida, those who have committed forcible felonies are not eligible for house arrest. Forcible felonies include treason, murder, sexual battery, carjacking, robbery, kidnapping and any other felony involving threats of physical force or violence. In Delaware, only nonviolent offenders are eligible for house arrest.
- As the court prescribes house arrest to suit the individual conditions of each case, the restrictions and obligations placed upon an individual offender will vary. In general, community control restricts the offender to a non-institutional location, possibly her own residence, and authorizes some limitation on freedom of movement. Therefore, the residence to which the offender is restricted will be determined at the court's discretion. Supervision and surveillance can include specified contact with a parole officer; continuous confinement to a residence; confinement to a residence when not engaged in employment or public service activities; mandatory public service; and the obligatory wearing of an "ankle bracelet" or electronic monitoring device. While these are the most common and the legally prescribed procedures, the court is free to place further orders on the offender and each state code may prescribe differing policies.
- In states where violent offenders may qualify for house arrest, specially-trained officers may oversee a limited number of intensively supervised house arrest cases. For sex offenders under house arrest, the state may provide a limited list of suitable housing locations by county. The court may also prohibit a sex offender from living near schools, zoos, parks, playgrounds or day cares. Drug offenders may be subject to intensive supervision through a combination of house arrest and rehabilitation programs. Surveillance and random drug testing may be required.
