Regular Felony and Misdemeanor Community Supervision

An individual can be placed under regular community supervision, also known as post-conviction community supervision, by a judge or a jury. Once an offender has been found guilty by a jury, or has pled guilty or no contest (nolo contendere) to a judge and the judge has found the person guilty, that is known as a conviction. Following the conviction or finding of guilt, the person is sentenced to time in the penitentiary for a felony and in jail for a misdemeanor. Following the pronouncement of a sentence that is no longer than 10 years for a felony and any sentence for a Class B or above misdemeanor, the sentence can be suspended and the person placed under community supervision, provided the offender complies with the terms and conditions set forth in the judgment and conditions. Misdemeanor offenders can be sentenced to a maximum of two years under supervision but that length may be extended for a total of five years under special circumstances, and felony offenders can be sentenced for a term between the minimum term for that degree of felony to a maximum of ten years under supervision. Thus, offenders charged with a first degree felony offense are eligible for a term of community supervision of no less than five years and no more than ten years, while offenders charged with second and third degree felonies are eligible for community supervision for a period between two and ten years. There is no minimum length of supervision for misdemeanor offenses. There are limitations on who can receive regular community supervision. A jury can sentence an offender to community supervision for any offense except capital murder, group hatred murder, or certain drug offenses committed in drug-free school zones. In addition, the jury must find that the person has never before been convicted of a felony, including having served a prior sentence of community supervision for a felony offense. A judge can sentence an offender to regular community supervision for offenses other than capital murder, murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second conviction for certain drug offenses in a drug-free school zone, sexual assault of a child, group hatred murder, and any offense in which there is a finding that a deadly weapon was used. A judge can sentence an offender to community supervision even in light of a prior felony conviction. Should an offender not comply with the terms and conditions of supervision, a motion to revoke the supervision may be prepared, the supervision may be revoked, and the offender sentenced for a term up to the maximum number of months or years of the original jail or prison sentence. See the Revocation section under Definitions for more information.