Chapter 1: Purpose (Probation and Surpervised Release Conditions)

1. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3601, a defendant who has been sentenced to probation or supervised release is required to be supervised by a United States probation officer “to the degree warranted by the conditions specified by the sentencing court."¹
2. The conditions of supervision set the parameters of supervision. They define the sentence to be executed, establish behavioral expectations for defendants, and provide the probation officer with tools to keep informed and bring about improvements in a defendant’s conduct and condition. Probation officers recommend and implement conditions and monitor defendants’ compliance with those conditions. They also work with defendants to facilitate their reintegration into the community as law-abiding and productive members of society.
3. This document is designed to provide judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other criminal justice practitioners with a list and description of the most common discretionary conditions of federal post-conviction supervision.
    

¹ United States probation officers also supervise persons released early from their prison sentences on parole or mandatory release by the U.S. Parole Commission (Parole Commission) or military authorities. The Parole Commission has a direct policy and decision-making role in the supervision of those under its jurisdiction. Probation officers are required to follow the Parole Commission’s rules relating to supervision and the Commission has the responsibility and authority for all decisions relating to the imposition and modification of conditions of release and for the revocation of parole supervision.