How many times per month are the visits to a PO?

What forms must be submitted??

Anything else we should know. Any ones experience with supervised release will be helpful.

Thanks

The first 6 months saw my PO once a week for a drug test. Since then, I only send a monthly report. I can't tell you the last time I saw her. For me, it has been a breeze. But then again, my PO has always been very nice. I have a had a very good experience with my supervised release.

it kinda depends on you, just do what your supposed to do, just send your monthly report on time and enjoy your freedom

how long does supervised release go on for?

For however long the judge sentences you to.

This may sound like a silly question but what is the difference between supervised release and on parole? Or are they the same and just being called two different things?

In the Federal System there is no parole. There is Probation and Supervised Release. The only real difference is how the terms are applied. Probation is for people who never went to prison and supervised release is for those who did go to prison. In actuality Probation and Supervised Release are the same thing. At least that is how my attorney explained it to me.

Cinnamo is correct. They are the same thing, just named diefferently for having been in prison or not

Mine was about the same, the first 6 or so months I went in once a week, but after a while it dropped to once a month. I dont remember ever getting a visit at work, but my PO did call from time to time. Keep in mind requirements for everyone can vary depending on aftercare(AA,drug counsoling) or classes the judge put in his sentencing

My Sweetie's PO has been wonderful. He only had to do a pee test one time, and he's pretty much left my Sweetie alone. Sweetie calls HIM every once in a while, instead of waiting for the PO to call here. He sends in his monthly reports, but the PO has NEVER did a home visit---yet. Sweetie's PO is cool...but he's the hardest one to have...GOOD LUCK!! BTW, Sweetie has been home 6 months, so far.

I have been out almost a year. The first month I had to go in several times and do the drug test even though I was not on a drug charge. I have to go in once a month - provide a report of all the money earned and spent, even my spouses earning - even though the crime was prior to our marriage. I am only allowed certain expenditures according to the federal guide lines. I was court order to repay at 10% of my earnings but have agreed to a larger amount as I want this debt off of me. I just don't think it is fair to my spouse to try to limit what he can spend.
I have not had to do any drug test since the first month or so. My PO has come to my office once and met my manager - I work for the state. My PO came out to the house a couple of months ago but no one was home. I did have to have the blood drawn for the DNA when that was put into effect during the past year.
My judge order mental health care after release so I have been going to session twice a month for the past 8 months. I guess this will keep up for 3 years as it is a money making rack for the therapist as we just discuss what is going on and the weather, etc. This therapy is a joke. I was informed this past week that they are starting a group that I will be required to attend. Of course, with me living so far from the town this session is in, I will have a 3 hours wait from the time I get off work until the session starts and it will put me getting home about 9-10 at night.
Oh well, at least my probation is 1/3 of the way thru - I have until Dec. 2007.

txgrannie,

I was curious about some of the conditions in regards to "supervised release" since my wife's crime also happened before we were married. I was told by our attorney that they may ask about my financial situation, but we are not required to provide any information. I was also told if we refused to provide my financials that they may make a lot of noise and threats; however, in the end they could not do any more than require my wife to pay the 10% on her income. We have not crossed this bridge yet, but our stand is going to be it's none of their business what I make.

Keep the Faith

Michael :thumbsup:

I have had to provide Probation with my husbands income the last couple months. It's part of the monthly report form and she wil have to complete another financial disclosure form that will talk about all of your debts and assets as a family. They won't be able to take your income TxRhino if she has restitution to pay.

question , after you pay all your restitution,do still have to disclose your financial situation monthly ?

If you are talking about the monthly probation report then the answer is yes.

txgrannie,

I was curious about some of the conditions in regards to "supervised release" since my wife's crime also happened before we were married. I was told by our attorney that they may ask about my financial situation, but we are not required to provide any information. I was also told if we refused to provide my financials that they may make a lot of noise and threats; however, in the end they could not do any more than require my wife to pay the 10% on her income. We have not crossed this bridge yet, but our stand is going to be it's none of their business what I make.

While it is true that the Federal PO has no jurisdiction over you, they do over your wife. The Courts have held pretty universally that in cases where there are criminal monetary penalties, that the PO is justified in looking to the spouses income as well as the offenders. In fact, I know of no case that says differently. If you guys refuse to provide the information this could be considered a violation of her conditions and could result in a revocation. It sounds like you had an attorney who does not do much federal work and he gave you some pretty stupid advice. I would encourage you to provide whatever financial information the PO asks for.

Soooo if you have paid off all fines, do you still have to provide fiancial information?

No, the fact that you have paid off a fine does not mean that a condition that you have to provide the officer with financial information is lifted.

I had no fines or restitution, and I still had to provide finacial information every month.

Im on fed probation but I dont have to take drug test anymore because my first drug test came out negative. I only had to every other day when I was on pre-trail. So she comes to the house when she wants and I go to see her when she wants me too. And usually thats once every two mnths. I have to do 100 hours of community service not really looking forward for that. Sometimes I forget im on probation..But theres a form I fill out every mnth and they ask you real personal questions. They want your bank account number and all that and they also look into your taxes making sure your not cheating the IRS. They even want to know the milage on your car. Its a pretty noisy system if you ask me. They want you to screw up sooner or later so they look good as I see it. And make sure your not around any fire arms cause you can get violated. Also if you want to work in a bar you have to get permission to be around and serve alchohal.

I also had to fill out the financial part of the form, how much in the bank, how much spent, how much made etc. As with the car info I usually just ball parked it. Although he never personally checked the mileage I was told to see if you are driving an unuasual amount or some goofy reason.

My supervision ended about six months ago but as I recall, the standard form that everyone fills out at the probation office asks for:
- checking & savings account numbers/balances
- spouse information & do you have access to their accounts
- have you had contact with felons
- auto VIN#, license#, owner's name, and mileage
- if you have a P.O. Box, storage facility, safety deposit box
- if you've traveled outside the district without permission
- if you've used illegal drugs
- if you've missed any work
- have you changed jobs or moved your residence
- name, address, phone # and name of supervisor
- work hours, salary
- do you have mandatory drug or mental health counseling and have you missed an
appointment
*you must also include copy of pay stub

These are signed by you, swearing under Federal penalty that the answers are true.

I took extras, completed them prior to my visits, and kept a copy of everything I ever gave my officer.

In addition to this, I was required to provide (every month) bank statements and credit card statements (even though I had no fines or restitution).

There is another form for travel requests at the office. I suggest you take a few of those too and have them completed prior to your visit. Two weeks are required for processing. The form asks the reason for your visit, where you will stay, how you will travel, and who will be traveling with you. Permission from the Probation Dept. in the district you are visiting must provide permission. You must phone your Probation Officer within 24 hours of your return.

Would I still have to give my personal financial info even if we are not married? (We would be living together.) I would think if he came home and just had a roomate that it would be none of their business.

Vicki, I don't know the answer to that one but the U S Probation Dept must approve his release address prior to leaving BOP custody. My best guess would be that as long as you keep your finances separate, your information would not be required. Does he have fines and restitution pending?

We have paid all fines and or restitutions. The home he left is the same one he is coming back to also. Does that make any difference? I know before he went in they required my information as well. I always felt they didn't have a right to this information but I was too frightened/upset/ a mess at the time to say anything. Now I have learned so much of a world that I never knew even existed!

There is a Probation Officer on this forum that can specifically answer your question.

Some officers seem to have a penchant for wanting to make the supervision more difficult. What I know for sure is that until the supervision is ended, that officer has control of your life. If your supervision is 2 years and they decide you messed up the day before it ends, they can call for a revocation hearing. If successful, you don't serve the one day you had left, you could be back in prison for 2 full years.

So, bottom line...if you don't have anything to hide, I would suggest you just go along with it and get it over with.

I NEVER EVER got the feeling that the POs that my husband and I dealt with wanted us to mess up to make themselves look good. They get no "points" for sending people back! We each did five years and were treated politely at every single step. And yes, we had to fill out those forms every month, but since there was nothing to hide it was no big deal. We on occassion run into our former POs and we always enjoy visiting with them - they both went the extra mile to make probation as do-able as possible.

Also, my husband traveled out of our district often with his job and was given a "blanket" travel permit that coverrd his area. We both were advised that if we were every traveling out of district - with a permission letter - and were stopped by the police to show them the letter ASAP. It was stressed to let the cop know we were felons BEFORE they ran our names.

I think two things helped me think probation was easy; being guilty and those dreadful 18 months in county jails BEFORE I got to a Federal prison.

My husband and I are self employed and file taxes as "sole proprietors" all of the monies are reported then seperated business/personal. Do we just run a copy of the quicken reports each months and attach to the months report to the PO. I am not there yet but will be in several months. My husband is grousing about the fact that he must report all of his info to the Feds but realizes on some level that they have that info anyway. Just wondering how the self employed do this. I hope tp come back and work for our business I am 64 and will be 65 when I come home so employment on the streets porbally will not be an option. I sure want to do the right thing and be done with my time.

Martha, while you are at the halfway house you will have to work for a company. Go ahead and say a bad word, the situation is only temporary. Once you are on supervision, you should be able to continue your entreprenurial enterprise but a Quicken report will not suffice. You will need to provide copies of your monthly bank records or anything else your P.O. requests.

The "requested" verbiage in the sentencing is the operative word. You might just ask them what they want. I chose to provide Xerox copies of everything so she could review them quickly and let me out of there. After a year, my file was so thick she no longer wanted to keep them.

How are you going to keep your business going during your absence, so that it will be considered a "legitimate job"?

SusanT

My husband and I are sole Proprieters and he will do everything alone. My understandind is that I do not go to a half way house. My sentece says 5months Colenab Camp amd 5 months house arrest electronic monitoring and 2 years probation nothing about half way house. I am thinking that if I come home to electronic honitoring that I can go on with my job. Is this another "pipe dream" thought that is what the attorney said.

Martha, sounds like everything will be fine. I didn't realize that you had a husband that would keep the business going while you were away.

Warning: You cannot conduct any business while you are in prison. Do not under any circumstances discuss business on the phone as they are recording all of your phone calls. You can be a little less cautious with the mail as your outgoing mail is not read. Your incoming mail will be opened but they don't have time to read it, just check for contraband.

Your sentence is a commonly referred to as a split sentence and it will be executed exactly as the judge detailed. Halfway house is for sentences of 1 year and a day or more. You will be required to work, and assuming this was the job you had on bond, then most likely you will be able to return to it...You have to work out the details with the PO. You will have to do the full 5 months at coleman (no good time credit under 1 year and a day either).

Thanks for the inforanation as I have stated before you all should have been paid the $15,000 for my attorney. LOL Yes, this was my job before bond. I have worked with my husband at this job for 20 years this January. If I get the same PO that I have now when I come home in September , she has full knowledge of our working relationship. Does that ever happen that you get the same PO? She has been so good about letting me go to California to see my grandchild etc. real nice but effiecent lady. Thanks again. I will be very careful regarding using the phones!!!

Martha2, ask your current P.O. what the possibility of you having her again is. My experience is that they have designated P.O. for the Pre-trial release and that they are much more reasonable.

Like you, I had full travel prior to my incarceration but during supervision the P.O. stated that twice a year was enough to visit my grown children and grandchildren.

I think it depends on the PO. Mine was always very reasonable, I never had any issues with travel (with very short notice), etc. As long as you do as they ask, which is really not much, you should be just fine.

Susan is correct in saying that the pre-trial officer will be different than your PO. It is a different job, actually.

I just met my PO last week and she scheduled a home visit on Feb. 16. I'm not certain if they typically schedule them in advance or if this is just the way she happens to operate. I was also placed on a level 2 color code which I've been told means I will have to sumbit 2 U/A's per month. She informed me I was being placed on level two since I had been through treatment and had been giving clean U/A's for the 8 months prior to being placed on supervision. She told me she did not find it nessasary to place me on level 1 but since I was brand new to supervision she could not put me on level 3 yet. She told me I will be reporting once a month but did not specify the exact number of home visits she would conduct.

My P.O. only made three home visits in two years. She would phone me at work and we would schedule a time to meet there. It's primarily a formality so it can be documented in your file...same with the UAs.

Anyone??!
I have a question on our passports is it return to us after we get released from custody or after our supervised released is over and can we travel out of the US on supervised released or do they only allow travel within the U.S.

Cha, you cannot even travel out of the district during your supervised release without written permission of your P.O. and the district to which you want to travel. In very RARE circumstances, would someone be allowed to leave the U.S. during supervision.

lol...my hubbys restitution will never be repaid ...he is ordered after his release from the prision system which he has not begun to serve yet. He is ordered to repay 1.4 million..LOL not in this life time

hi, i just came across this thread and need some information. when my boyfriend is released after he finishes his time in federal prison, it will be a supervised release, and he will come to live at my house. we are not married, but he is planning on living at my home. what i want to know is that will i be required to give any of the aforementioned personal information (financial records) to his P.O. or someone else, when he is released here in Texas? can the feds demand this information from me, if he is not my spouse? PLEASE HELP, ANYONE??

Petnanny, your financial information is not relevant since you are not his spouse. The Probation Department will visit your home prior to his release in order to "approve" his residence. You will have to remove all guns from the premises. You are also required to allow his probation officer to visit anytime unannounced.

In halfway,they will make you do a UA once a week.When on supervised release it was report to the office and UA at least once a month.My first 2 years on release it was like that.Now I mail in my report once a month,and go in to the office once every three months.Alot depends on you,your record,disciplinary infractions,etc.Do what they tell you,NO DIRTY UA's and its a breeze.I should be done in June,and no more!

SusanT, thanks for this information!!! I appreciate it very much, as I am new to this type of lifestyle (living under a microscope). I'm curious, do the P.O.'s look in every single room of the house in the initial visit, prior to his release? if i have a license to carry a firearm, (in Texas) i wonder if i would still have to remove all guns from the premises (my home)? that sure doesn't seem fair! also, i don't like the thought of having a stranger (his P.O.) drop by the house unannounced at anytime either! this is a real eye opener for me. it appears that the feds punish the people who "help" someone coming out of incarceration, as well as the inmate, doesn't it?




Petnanny, your financial information is not relevant since you are not his spouse. The Probation Department will visit your home prior to his release in order to "approve" his residence. You will have to remove all guns from the premises. You are also required to allow his probation officer to visit anytime unannounced.

Petnanny, my understanding is that you cannot even have guns locked in a gun safe while you have him there under supervision. Understand that I was on the other side but I released to my daughter's home when I left FPC Bryan and her husband had to get every gun out of their house. I believe she also had to sign paperwork acknowledging the "rules". I also am in Texas and we like our guns here but these are Federal rules.

When released from the halfway house, I moved to another city and lived with my employer/friend for the first two months and then got my own place. All the probation department wants to see is that there is a verifiable address, the owner is aware that the felon has registered that address as his/her release address, and that there is an actual bedroom for them to live in. Some P.O.s may ask to look in a drawer or closet. There is a member of the forum FEDERAL PO that can specifically answer your questions. Yes, it's a drag having to deal with unannounced visitors of any type but there really is no choice and it is temporary.

Susan T, I understand that it is a very serious violation of probation or supervised release to be where there are firearms and a "I didn't know they were there" will not get you "off". There is a thread on one of these sites that says you can be sent back for a maximum of 15 years. Scared the Be jeezez out of me! If I am wrong please correct me as I would never want to create unnecesary fear for any of us, we are already going through enough.

Martha, you are exactly right. "I didn't know" will not get you off.

Cjjack, what you said is absolutely true. Due to my fears I spoke with my P.O. regarding the firearms issue. There are so many hunters in Texas (including my three sons) that almost any home here is going to have guns. I cannot possibly demand nor insure that every family member I visit voluntarily give up their right to bear arms.

My last employer kept an automatic rifle in the corner of his office and a loaded pistol on his desk. We cannot control what other people do. Should we be hanging out with troublemakers and in situations "where we should have known", that is different from just living your life.

Hi..My name is Janet.I am from california and have been on supervised release for 4 1/2 years..Due to get off in Dec. Their is only 1 form that has to be sent in at the beginning of the month along with verification of income(check stubs) just have the receptionist make copies. The p.o. will provide you with the monthly forms that need to be sent in. As for monthly visits with the p.o. I don't imagine it should be too often as long as you are doing what you are supposed to..like if their is after care groups or counseling to go to, go. Testing..don't niss and don't forget to call everyday to see of you need to test that day. That is very important..Get into the habit of having to call everyday make it to where it just becomes natural like brushing your teeth or making coffee...and notify your p.o. if you move or want to travel out of town..etc..and don't get into any trouble at a bar!! HA..HA..Hope I've been of some help....

Good advise.......be where you are suppose to be when you are suppose to be there do what your asked to do and you should be fine. It will pass just like all of the other time did.