House arrest, or home confinement, allows persons convicted of crimes to serve all or a portion of their term of punishment in their home. Corrections departments favor house arrest because it releases the state from much of the expense of prisoner care-taking. Probation officers in Illinois enforced early forms of house arrest through random visitation of the residence during curfew hours. Today, probation officers use electronic forms of monitoring, further releasing the state from financial burden.
Unified Code of Corrections
Article 8a of the Unified Code of Corrections delimits Illinois state-wide electronic home detention statutes. Local probation governing bodies are responsible for specific administration and implementation of the statutes. Basic rules of the code state that monitoring devices may not monitor the individual beyond location and that persons convicted of murder, sexual assault and other serious offenses are not eligible for electronic home detention.
Exceptions to Confinement
Persons on house arrest in Illinois may leave the premises under certain conditions. These include, but are not necessarily limited to, employment, medical treatment and emergencies and schooling. The court-sanctioned "supervising authority," such as a probation officer, determines the curfew--the hours at which the arrestee must remain within the confines of his household. The court or court-sanctioned supervising authority must pre-approve any departure from the home. The supervising authority may visit the home or other places in which the arrestee should be to confirm the arrestee's location.
Provisions and Consent
The electronic home monitoring code further states that the arrestee must keep a home telephone, monitoring devices on her person and/or monitoring devices in her home. The supervising authority must obtain written consent from the arrestee participant as well as from other persons living in the same household.