House arrest is a type of punishment for a crime where an individual is not incarcerated in a traditional prison, but is remanded to the custody of his own home or residence and is not allowed to leave without permission. This seems like an ideal situation for the criminal, but in reality, house arrest is no walk in the park. There are a number of ways in which house arrest is enforced, and a number of different types of offenses where house arrest is mandated. If you are facing house arrest, or if you are curious about how the process works, you might want to know more about these conditions surrounding house arrest.
Understanding the House Arrest Rules
In many states, one of the biggest factors involved in house arrest is whether or not the individual has been convicted of a DUI, or driving under the influence, violation. DUI is a serious crime, but often not serious enough to warrant the individual spending time in jail and taking up the space that is needed to house a rapist, murderer, or other violent offender. House arrest will often be mandated in these cases to free up space, to allow the offender to avoid real prison time, and to track the movements of the individual to make sure that he is not violating the terms of their sentence by leaving the home or visiting bars, clubs, etc.
House arrest is enforced through the use of a variety of electronic monitoring devices that can communicate with the police and allow law enforcement officials to determine whether or not an individual is where they are supposed to be at a given time.
- A typical house arrest enforcement package consists of a monitoring device that is installed in the offender’s home and connected to a phone line.
- The offender wears an ankle bracelet that communicates with the monitoring device, which is programmed to have the offender’s schedule.
- While the offender is scheduled to be at home, the device searches for the bracelet signal and reports back to the police if the signal is not found.
- Exceptions can be made to allow the offender to attend work, school, or other necessary functions.
House arrest is still a serious form of punishment for non-violent offenders such as individuals convicted of DUI or other offenses. It’s not simply the easy way out of prison, and in many cases, longer terms of house arrest are mandated to avoid shorter terms in real prison time.
Getting Help
If you are facing criminal charges, you should speak with your lawyer about the possibility of house arrest as a penalty. Your lawyer can explain to you the rules regarding house arrest and can help you arrange to speak to the judge or prosecutor about choosing house arrest as a sentence instead of jail time.
