PRISON:

Confinement in a state or federal correctional facility to serve a sentence of more than 1 year.

JAIL:

Confinement in a local jail while pending trial; awaiting sentencing; serving a sentence that is usually less than one year; and awaiting transfer to other facilities after conviction of a felony.

FELONY:

In general, a felony is an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in excess of one year is authorized.

MISDEMEANOR:

A misdemeanor is an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment not in excess of one year may be imposed. A misdemeanor is less serious than a felony and is punishable by fine or imprisonment in a city or county jail rather than in a prison, or probation.

PAROLE:

In some states, parole is a period of conditional supervised release in the community following a prison term, including prisoners released to parole either by a parole board decision (discretionary parole) or according to provisions of a statute (mandatory parole).

PROBATION:

In some states probation is a court-ordered period of correctional supervision in the community generally instead of incarceration. In some cases probation can be a combined sentence of incarceration followed by a period of community supervision. States vary on the definitions of parole and probation. The federal system also has specific definitions of parole and probation and a different process of community supervision than a given state.

COMMUNITY SUPERVISION:

This term refers broadly to supervision by the criminal justice system of an individual who lives in the community. It can refer to parole or probation. In some states it refers to individuals who have determinate sentences and who are required to have criminal justice supervision when they leave incarceration.

ATIs (Alternatives to Incarceration):

These include mandated drug treatment programs or mental health treatment or youth programs. They may be the result of an alternative court system or a regular criminal court system.

DISCHARGE PLANNING (or transitional planning):

The support system inside the prison that works with individuals in their pre-release period to make plans and possibly connections to outside support systems to make their reentry process more successful. Discharge planning and transitional service programs vary dramatically from state to state and prison to prison.