Terms/Definitions

Case manager – the individual responsible for establishing release planning and addressing offender issues during incarceration.

Consecutive sentences - if an offender has more than one sentence, the first sentence is to be served before the second sentence is served.

Concurrent sentences - if an offender has more than one sentence, some or all sentences are served at the same time.

Custody level - the Minnesota correctional system has a five-level classification structure ranging from level 1 (minimum security) to level 5 (maximum security). Using an automated, objective system, inmates are assigned a classification score within 30 to 45 days of admission.  This risk score determines what custody level the inmate will be assigned.

Determinate sentencing - the offender is given a set amount of time to serve by the court and the sentence is expressed in terms of a number of months in prison and under the supervision in the community.

End-of-Confinement Review Committee (ECRC) - a group of representatives from the Minnesota Department of Corrections, victim services professionals, law enforcement and the State Public Defender’s Office that determines a level of community notification (I, II or III) for those offenders governed by predatory offender legislation.

Expiration of sentence - the date at which the Minnesota Department of Corrections no longer has any authority over the offender because the offender has served to the maximum sentence date.

Extended incarceration - an additional period of incarceration assigned to an offender for major rule infractions while serving a sentence inside an institution.

Hearings and Release Unit (HRU) - The release authority within the Minnesota Department of Corrections that ultimately determines release conditions for offenders.  This unit also determines revocation, return and accountability time for supervised release violators and restructures conditions for allowing a release violator to remain in the community.

Probation - a court-ordered sanction placing certain conditions on an offender while allowing the offender to remain in the community under supervision.

Projected release date (PRD) - the date at which point an offender is recommended for re-release after serving an additional incarceration period as a result of violating the original conditions of supervised release.

Offender security classification - an offender is classified according to the risk he or she present to self, other inmates, staff and the community. 

Release violator - an individual who has been released from prison and has admitted to or been found by the Hearings and Release Unit to have violated the conditions of his/her release.

Supervised release - the period of time when an offender, serving a determinate sentence, is supervised in the community following release from the prison portion of the offender’s sentence.  It is expressed in terms of a set number of months.   

Supervised release date (SRD) - the date at which point an offender is to be released after serving the incarceration period of his or her sentence.