Equitable over Time? — Evaluating the 'Costs' of Interstate Compact Participation

Abstract

The Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Parolees and Probationers (ICSPP) provides for the supervision of offenders in states other than those in which they were sentenced. It is assumed that the number of offenders entering a state for supervision is, over time, approximately equal to the number leaving for supervision elsewhere. Thus the net "cost" to the state would, over time, be zero. Data on Alaska's participation in the Interstate Compact formed the impetus for a study of Interstate Compact clients processed through the Anchorage probation office. This study suggests that numbers should not be the only measure of cost: demographic and offense characteristics of clients, as well as their supervision needs, should be factored into any cost assessment.