Offenders must contact the probation officer about four times a month. Caseloads average 30-40 per probation officer. Offenders are required to perform community service and to report daily activities and employment endeavors to a case manager. Analysts say day reporting centers can be among the most successful of intermediate sanctions because they can operate as multi-service centers offering a broad array of programs. Offenders may be confined to the center for up to two years.
Home confinement requires a convicted person to remain at home for specified periods.
Electronic monitoring may be used and probation officials must approve schedules outside the home. Day fines levy a portion of an offender's daily wages. The State should establish a competitive mechanism to fund community-based punishment plans. Competitive mechanisms, such as Challenge Grants, should be used to implement strategies known to reduce recidivism that were proposed by the 1994 Community-based Punishment Act. The State should expand drug courts.