Summary

The federal prison population has soared in recent years, as has the cost of housing the inmates. As a result, interest has grown in a group of programs known collectively as intermediate sanctions, which typically involve sentencing that is more severe than simple probation and less severe than traditional imprisonment. Examples of intermediate sanctions include "shock incarceration"--typically boot camps for teenage offenders; intensive probation supervision; and home confinement. This briefing report discusses (1) available sanctions, (2) eligibility for the sanctions, (3) the sanctions imposed--both intermediate and other sanctions--on convicted offenders in fiscal year 1991, (4) the agencies responsible for administering the sanctions, (5) the monthly operating and expansion costs of illustrative sentences, and (6) legal limitations on the increased use of sanctions other than imprisonment.

GAO found that: (1) the three available intermediate sanctions are probation with a confinement condition, a short prison sentence followed by supervised release, and boot camps; (2) eligibility for intermediate sanctions is determined by the U.S. Code and the U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines, and is based on the offender's criminal history and final offense score under the sentencing guidelines; (3) 73 percent of the offenders sentenced in FY 1991 received imprisonment, 14 percent received probation, and 11 percent received intermediate sanctions; (4) the probation and prison systems usually split jurisdiction for administering sanctions because most sentences are composed of more than one sanction; (5) the cost of administering intermediate sanctions is difficult to determine because costs vary according to the length and composition of sentences, the number and type of offenders entering the system, and the per capita cost of administering each sanction; and (6) the U.S. Code, sentencing guidelines, and Bureau of Prisons regulations limit the availability and use of intermediate sanctions.