Question raised about prisoners/house arrests during a natural disaster.

[kygen]

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask, but I'd assume that it's a good place to start. Someone online asked a question as to what happens to prisoners during a natural disaster (case in point Harvey, Katrina, and most likely Irma now). Same goes for those under house arrest; are they allowed to flee to a safer area outside of their parole sanctioned area?

[omgwtfbbq]

I have a bit of insight on this matter as I work and live in the area of California that was evacuated amid concerns of an imminent failure of the Oroville Dam early this year.

I can't speak for what happens in every locale, only what happened in mine. There were many adult detainees who were serving time in the minimum security wing of the jail who were released and given turn-in dates to come back and finish the rest of their time. These would be petty criminals, non-violent offenders, weekend regulars, etc.

Those incarcerated for serious offenses were transported to a nearby county jail out of the effected area. Corrections facilities have emergency evacuation plans in place and from what I've been told from my brothers/sisters in the facilities, they typically have an MOU with a nearby facility to take their inmates/staff should a natural disaster occur. The same was done with the local Juvenile Hall. These moves happened without notice of either the inmates or their families for obvious safety reasons.

Ankle Monitoring/Home Confinement is going to vary widely I suspect. We are just now getting our own program up and running so I couldn't really speak to what would happen in a disaster situation.

In regards to "sanctioned areas" and freedom of movement for those under community supervision. As long as it isn't specifically ordered as a term of their sentence, nearly all probationers/parolees are allowed to travel where they like within the state as long as they report as directed by their supervision officer. Some have to report daily, some monthly, and some don't have to physically report at all. It varies from case to case.

In our case, we came back to work when the evac order was lifted to a lot of voicemails from offenders telling us where they were staying and we did our best to get eyes on them in a residence, whether it was theirs, a relatives, or an evac shelter. I don't think we had a single offender run on us because of the evacuation. If an offender is serious about absconding, they don't need a natural disaster to do it.

[kygen]

Thank you for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.

[Redemption]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbbq

I have a bit of insight on this matter as I work and live in the area of California that was evacuated amid concerns of an imminent failure of the Oroville Dam early this year.

I can't speak for what happens in every locale, only what happened in mine. There were many adult detainees who were serving time in the minimum security wing of the jail who were released and given turn-in dates to come back and finish the rest of their time. These would be petty criminals, non-violent offenders, weekend regulars, etc.

Those incarcerated for serious offenses were transported to a nearby county jail out of the effected area. Corrections facilities have emergency evacuation plans in place and from what I've been told from my brothers/sisters in the facilities, they typically have an MOU with a nearby facility to take their inmates/staff should a natural disaster occur. The same was done with the local Juvenile Hall. These moves happened without notice of either the inmates or their families for obvious safety reasons.

Ankle Monitoring/Home Confinement is going to vary widely I suspect. We are just now getting our own program up and running so I couldn't really speak to what would happen in a disaster situation.

In regards to "sanctioned areas" and freedom of movement for those under community supervision. As long as it isn't specifically ordered as a term of their sentence, nearly all probationers/parolees are allowed to travel where they like within the state as long as they report as directed by their supervision officer. Some have to report daily, some monthly, and some don't have to physically report at all. It varies from case to case.

In our case, we came back to work when the evac order was lifted to a lot of voicemails from offenders telling us where they were staying and we did our best to get eyes on them in a residence, whether it was theirs, a relatives, or an evac shelter. I don't think we had a single offender run on us because of the evacuation. If an offender is serious about absconding, they don't need a natural disaster to do it.

Very interesting, i have also wondered this as well.