Texas progressive sanctions manual for judges now online

Via the state prosecutors' association:

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Community Justice Assistance Division (TDCJ-CJAD) authorized the publication of the Texas Progressive Interventions and Sanctions Bench Manual in response to requests from the Texas trial judiciary concerning community corrections sanctioning options and resources in Texas. This manual is primarily designed for both District Court and County Court at Law Judges trying criminal cases. However, it is also a valuable source of information for prosecutors, community corrections officials, defense attorneys, crime victims, defendants, and any other citizen with an interest in the broad array of alternatives to incarceration in Texas.

The 2009 revision of the Texas Progressive Interventions and Sanctions Bench Manual has been reorganized to highlight practices that research has proven to be effective with criminal justice populations. For purposes of simplicity, the generic and well-understood term "probation" is used interchangeably with the term "community supervision" throughout this manual. The legislative decision to employ terms such as Community Supervision, Community Corrections, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Community Justice Assistance Division, and Community Supervision Officers (CSOs) is well understood. The local program descriptions and sentencing alternatives listed herein represent designs adopted by many of the Community Supervision and Corrections Departments (CSCDs) of this State. Local availability as well as access to a specific program is best determined through the local CSCD. Courts, prosecutor, and counsel are encouraged to contact the CSCD of original jurisdiction as to availability of a specific program in that jurisdiction or, in the case of transfer to another CSCD in Texas, the availability of specific programs in the receiving CSCD.

To access a copy of the manual online, click here.

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