Thanks to Solutions for Texas for linking to the full consultant's report evaluating the Dallas probation system. Lots of interesting stuff here, but offhand I hadn't seen before a detailed breakdown of the 77,000 probation "absconders" statewide. Absconders are people who have not successfully completed probation, but who stop checking in with their probation officer and whom the state has lost track of -- the fruits of a failing system.
As it turns out, Austin-Travis County's probation department has the worst rate of absconders among large counties: Travis can't locate a whopping 39% of the probationers under their charge, nearly double the rate of Dallas County, which has the second highest absconder rate.
That's ridiculous. The phrase "community supervision" loses all meaning when you can't even locate 39% of those who are "supervised." You can thank Governor Perry for disastrously vetoing the Legislature's thoughtful fix to this mess.
Here are stats on absconders for the ten most populous counties from the consultant's report:
Absconders at Texas' Largest Probation Departments
Source: Dallas consultant's report (pdf)
Source: Dallas consultant's report (pdf)
| County | Total Supervision Population | | Percent Absconding in County |
| Total Absconders | |||
| | 51,269 | 11,335 | 22.00% |
| Harris | 39,039 | 4,845 | 12.00% |
| Bexar | 25,158 | 4,513 | 18.00% |
| Tarrant | 21,528 | 2,665 | 12.00% |
| Travis | 21,188 | 8,221 | 39.00% |
| | 18,698 | 3,272 | 17.00% |
| | 17,055 | 2,332 | 14.00% |
| Cameron | 8,907 | 1,493 | 17.00% |
| Collin | 8,029 | 1,265 | 16.00% |
| | 7,342 | 905 | 12.00% |
| Rest of State | 211,371 | 36,593 | 17.31% |
| State Total | 429,584 | 77,439 | 18.03% |
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