2005 Federal Sentencing Guidelines
CHAPTER FIVE - PART F - SENTENCING OPTIONS
§5F1.2. Home Detention
Home detention may be imposed as a condition of probation or supervised release,
but only as a substitute for imprisonment.
Commentary
Application Notes:
1. "Home detention" means a program of confinement and supervision that restricts
the defendant to his place of residence continuously, except for authorized
absences, enforced by appropriate means of surveillance by the probation office.
When an order of home detention is imposed, the defendant is required to be
in his place of residence at all times except for approved absences for gainful
employment, community service, religious services, medical care, educational
or training programs, and such other times as may be specifically authorized.
Electronic monitoring is an appropriate means of surveillance and ordinarily
should be used in connection with home detention. However, alternative means
of surveillance may be used so long as they are as effective as electronic
monitoring.
2. The court may impose other conditions of probation or supervised release
appropriate to effectuate home detention. If the court concludes that the amenities
available in the residence of a defendant would cause home detention not to
be sufficiently punitive, the court may limit the amenities available.
3. The defendant’s place of residence, for purposes of home detention,
need not be the place where the defendant previously resided. It may be any
place of residence, so long as the owner of the residence (and any other person(s)
from whom consent is necessary) agrees to any conditions that may be imposed
by the court, e.g., conditions
that a monitoring system be installed, that there will be no "call forwarding" or "call
waiting"
services, or that there will be no cordless telephones or answering machines.
Background: The Commission
has concluded that the surveillance necessary for effective use of home detention
ordinarily requires electronic monitoring. However, in some cases home detention
may effectively be enforced without electronic monitoring, e.g.,
when the defendant is physically incapacitated, or where some other effective
means of surveillance is available. Accordingly, the Commission has not required
that electronic monitoring be a necessary condition for home detention. Nevertheless,
before ordering home detention without electronic monitoring, the court should
be confident that an alternative form of surveillance will be equally effective.
In the usual case, the Commission assumes that a condition requiring that
the defendant seek and maintain gainful employment will be imposed when home
detention is ordered.
Historical Note: Effective
November 1, 1987. Amended effective November 1, 1989 (see Appendix
C, amendments 271 and 302).