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Connecticut Law About Adult Probation
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See Also: Law About Criminal Penalties and Law About Pardons and Paroles

Research Guides and Information

 Connecticut General Statutes

Definitions from the Connecticut Judicial Branch - Common Legal Words:

  • Probation: When a convicted offender receives a suspended term of incarceration and is then supervised by a probation officer for a period of time set by a judge.

  • Probation Absconder: A person under probation supervision whose location is
    unknown, in violation of the conditions of their probation.

Court Forms from the Connecticut Judicial Branch:

Publications from the Connecticut Judicial Branch

Research Guides Prepared by the Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Librarians:

Arrest Warrant Database on Violation of Adult Probation:

Statistics on Adult Probation

Office of Legislative Research Reports:

  • DNA Sampling and Analysis - 2018-R-0214
    Which criminal offenders are required to submit to DNA samples? Where is DNA information stored?

  • OLR Backgrounder: Sex Offenders on Probation and Parole - Treatment and Housing Restrictions - 2017-R-0037
    This backgrounder briefly describes the policies the state Court Support Services Division's (CSSD) Sex Offender Unit (probation officers), and Department of Correction's (DOC) Parole and Community Service's Special Management Unit (parole officers) follow to regulate housing and treatment of sex offenders released from prison into the community. Officers in both units have specific training in sex-offender management and evidence-based interventions; they have significantly smaller caseloads than those supervising other offenders.

  • Probation and Travel Out-of-State - 2009-R-0433
    You asked if someone on probation can travel outside of the state, whether for a single night or an extended period. You also asked whether the state is part of an interstate compact that governs out-of-state travel by probationers.

  • People in Prison for Violating Probation - 2008-R-0596
    You asked about the number of people sentenced to prison for violating probation and what their underlying crimes are.

  • Adults on Probation Supervision - 2008-R-0488
    You asked for the number of adult probationers by town and for a map displaying the number as a percentage of a town's population.

  • Probation – Sex Offenders in Each Community - 2008-R-0288
    You asked for the number of sex offenders on probation in each community.

  • Probation – Sex Offenders - 2008-R-0273
    You asked for information about how sex offenders on probation are supervised.

  • Probation Statistics - 2007-R-0468
    You asked about the number of people on probation and their charges.

  • Electronic Monitoring of Probationers and Parolees - 2007-R-0096
    You asked whether the state has the authority to require probationers and parolees to be electronically monitored. If so, you asked for the number of people being monitored.

  • Authority to Set Conditions of Release - 2006-R-0108
    You asked if courts, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and probation and parole officers are authorized to set release conditions that place restrictions on residence, jobs, hours outside of the home, and movement, including their ability to require electronic monitoring. You are also interested in the authority and duties of sex offender units in the Office of Adult Probation (OAP).

  • Probation-Drug Abuse - 2005-R-0023
    You asked what a probation officer does to make sure probationers are not taking illegal drugs. You also asked for a copy of a recent Yale University study on Connecticut probationers.

  • Probationer-Therapist Confidentiality - 2005-R-0021
    You asked whether a therapist may reveal information he learns in a court-ordered group therapy session involving people on probation?

  • Search Waivers for Parolees and Probationers - 2002-R-0005
     You asked (1) whether probationers must consent to warrantless searches as a condition of program participation and (2) if the same requirement applies to people on parole.

  • Violation of Probation - 1999-R-0571
    You asked whether a probationer who (1) received probation on condition that he not commit any new crime and (2) has been arrested for a new crime could be judged in violation of his probation before he has been convicted of that crime. You also asked for a legislative history of the violation of probation law (CGS § 53a-32).

Useful Websites

Library Materials

The Judicial Branch law libraries hold a number of items that may be helpful when researching probation. Search the online catalog for availability and locations.

  • Connecticut Criminal Procedure, by Hon. Carl J. Schuman, Connecticut Law Tribune.

  • Connecticut Practice Series: Connecticut Criminal Procedure 4d, by Hon. David M. Borden and Leonard Orland, Thomson West, volume 4.

  • Connecticut Practice Series: Criminal Law 2d, by Hon. David M. Borden and Leonard Orland, Thomson West, volume 10.

  • The Law of Probation and Parole, by Neil P. Cohen, Thomson West.

  • LexisNexis Practice Guide: Connecticut Criminal Law, by Stephan E. Seeger, LexisNexis.

Chapter 319j – Addiction Services

  • Sec. 17a--693. Order for examination for alcohol or drug dependency

  • Sec. 17a-699. Order of treatment for alcohol or drug dependency of convicted person

  • Sec. 17a-700. Completion of treatment program by convicted person

  • Sec. 17a-701. Modification of sentence or terms of probation prior to completion of treatment program by convicted person.

Chapter 952 – Penal Code Offenses

  • Sec. 53a-28. Authorized sentences.

  • Sec. 53a-29. Probation and conditional discharge: Criteria; periods; continuation or termination

  • Sec. 53a-30. Conditions of probation and conditional discharge

  • Sec. 53a-31. Calculation of periods of probation and conditional discharge. Compliance with conditions during interrupted period.

  • Sec. 53a-32. Violation of probation or conditional discharge. Notice to victim or victim advocate. Arrest. Pretrial release conditions and supervision. Hearing. Disposition.

  • Sec. 53a-32a. Violation of probation by certain sexual offenders.

  • Sec. 53a-33. Termination of probation or conditional discharge.

  • Sec. 53a-172(a)(2). Failure to appear in the first degree: Class D felony.

  • Sec. 53a-173(a)(2). Failure to appear in the second degree: Class A misdemeanor.

Chapter 961 – Trial and Proceedings After Conviction

  • Sec. 54-91a. Presentence investigation of defendant

  • Sec. 54-108. Duties of probation officers.

  • Sec. 54-108c. Availability of information on outstanding arrest warrants for probation violations.

  • Sec. 54-108d. Authority of probation officers to detain certain persons, seized contraband . . .

  • Sec. 54-108g. Prohibition against disclosure of personal information of probation officers to certain individuals under the Freedom of Information Act. 

Click on the link to search the full-text of the statutes: https://search.cga.state.ct.us/r/statute/

Connecticut Practice Book

Chapter 7. Clerks, Files and Records

  •  Sec. 7-14. – Reports from Adult Probation and Family Division

Chapter 43. Sentencing, Judgment and Appeal

  • Sec. 43-10. Sentencing Hearing - Procedures to Be Followed

  • Sec. 43-29. Revocation of Probation

  • Sec.  43-29A. Notice of Motions to Modify or Enlarge Conditions of Probation or Conditional Discharge or Terminate Conditions of Probation or Conditional Discharge

  • Sec. 43-32. Stay of Probation on Appeal

Connecticut Code of Evidence

Article 1. General Provisions

  • Sec. 1-1(d). The code inapplicable. “The Code, other than with respect to privileges, does not apply in proceedings such as, but not limited to, the following:

. . . (4) Proceedings involving probation.”

Caselaw

  • Burns v. United States, 287 U.S. 216, 220, 53 S. Ct. 154, 77 L. Ed. 266 (1932). “It was designed to provide a period of grace in order to aid the rehabilitation of a penitent offender; to take advantage of an opportunity for reformation which actual service of the suspended sentence might make less probable. . . Probation is thus conferred as a privilege and cannot be demanded as a right. It is a matter of favor, not of contract. There is no requirement that it must be granted on a specified showing. The defendant stands convicted; he faces punishment and cannot insist on terms or strike a bargain. To accomplish the purpose of the statute, an exceptional degree of flexibility in administration is essential. It is necessary to individualize each case, to give that careful, humane and comprehensive consideration to the particular situation of each offender which would be possible only in the exercise of a broad discretion.’”

  • State v. Obas, 147 Conn. App. 465, 482-483, 83 A.3d 674 (2014). “It is well settled that the trial court maintains discretion to supervise and, as appropriate, to enlarge or modify the terms of a probationer's probation.”

  • State v. Shuck, 112 Conn. App. 407, 409-410, 962 A.2d 900 (2009). “’Probation itself is a conditional liberty and a privilege that, once granted, is a constitutionally protected interest.... The revocation proceeding must comport with the basic requirements of due process because termination of that privilege results in a loss of liberty. . .’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Gauthier, 73 Conn. App. 781, 789, 809 A.2d 1132 (2002), cert. denied, 262 Conn. 937, 815 A.2d 137 (2003).


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