“House Arrest” & Home Confinement as Jail Alternatives in California

Updated August 9, 2021

House arrest is a type of alternative sentence whereby offenders get confined to their residences under certain terms and conditions as an alternative to serving the time in jail. House arrest is sometimes referred to as home confinement, home detention, electronic monitoring, or supervised electronic confinement.

People usually qualify for house arrest if they:

• are sentenced to county jail (as opposed to state prison),
• are nonviolent offenders,
• have a home in or near the county where they are sentenced,
• have a home telephone, and
• agree to adhere to all the rules of supervised electronic confinement.

People can typically have visitors on house arrest provided that the visits are allowed under the terms and conditions governing the house arrest sentence.

If a person violates the terms of his/her home detention, California’s probation laws authorize that person’s probation or parole officer to arrest the offender. This is true even if they do not have a California arrest warrant.

After an arrest, the offender will attend a court hearing where the presiding judge can:

• waive or disregard a home detention violation,
• impose stricter or harsher house arrest terms and conditions, or
• revoke home confinement and order the offender to serve the remainder of his/her sentence via jail time or a prison term.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will highlight the following in this article:

• 1. What is house arrest in California?
• 2. How do you qualify?
• 3. Can you have visitors on house arrest in California?
• 4. Does house arrest count as time served?
• 5. What happens if you violate the terms of house arrest?

1. What is house arrest in California?

House arrest is a sentencing option in California where a judge confines an offender to his/her residence for a period of time under certain terms and conditions. The sentence is an alternative sentence to a traditional jail sentence or time in county jail or state prison.

When a judge imposes home confinement, the offender usually has to abide by certain terms and conditions. Examples include:

• curfew restrictions,
• random drug testing,
• alcohol monitoring via a SCRAM device,
• drug use monitoring via a drug patch,
• community service, and/or
• in-office face-to-face meetings or home visits with the offender’s probation officer or parole officer.

Depending on the severity of a person’s crime, a judge may allow an offender to leave his/her residence for certain purposes during the duration of the home confinement sentence For example, a judge may allow the offender to leave his/her home in order to:

• work,
• attend school,
• travel to medical appointments,
• attend and participate in counseling appointments or alcohol classes (maybe, for example, after a conviction for DUI),
• tend to family obligations, and
• participate in any other court-approved activities.¹

People imposed to the alternative sentencing option of home confinement are typically monitored via an electronic monitoring program. These programs usually require the offender to wear an electronic monitoring device, which is most often an ankle bracelet. Note that some offenders are monitored via a global positioning system.

Offenders are generally responsible for paying any costs that are associated with a house arrest sentence. However, people will not be excluded from participating in home detention based exclusively on their inability to pay.²

2. How do you qualify?

People usually qualify for house arrest if they:

• are sentenced to county jail (as opposed to state prison),
• are nonviolent offenders,
• have a home in or near the county where they are sentenced,
• have a home telephone, and
• agree to adhere to all the rules of supervised electronic confinement.

While house arrest is available with both misdemeanor and felony criminal charges, it is usually not given if a person commits:

• a serious crime,
• a violent crime, or
• multiple crimes.

Note, though, as Orange County criminal defense attorney John Murray explains:

“The judge just doesn’t offer house arrest. Home confinement, and for that matter, any type of alternative sentencing, is a privilege which must be requested by a skilled criminal defense lawyer. And, in all honesty, most requests get denied. The attorney has to know how to convince the prosecutor and judge that his/her client is deserving of such an opportunity and that he/she will benefit from its imposition.”³

3. Can you have visitors on house arrest in California?

A person on house arrest can be visited by family and friends.

However, this typically must be stated within, and be provided by, the terms and conditions governing the house arrest sentence.

An offender runs the risk of violating his home confinement term if he/she is visited by a person and that visit is prohibited by the conditions of the confinement.

4. Does house arrest count as time served?

House arrest does not count as time served under California law.

Further, if a person is subject to home confinement, he/she must serve the entire length of the sentence. Unlike in jail, people cannot earn “good time credit” on house arrest.

5. What happens if you violate the terms of house arrest?

When the monitoring agency/monitoring services receives an alert that an offender has violated the terms and conditions of his/her house arrest, it notifies the offender’s probation or parole officer.

Under California’s probation laws, the probation or parole officer can then arrest the offender – even without relying on a California arrest warrant.

After an arrest, the offender will appear before a judge at a probation violation hearing. The judge at this hearing has the discretion to:

• ignore the violation,
• impose stricter terms and conditions of the person’s home detention, or
• revoke house arrest and sentence the offender to jail or prison to serve the remainder of his/her sentence.

If a person is on house arrest on parole, and that person violates a condition of his/her house arrest sentence, then the violation can trigger a parole revocation. Depending on the circumstances, if the state revokes parole, the offender will most likely be reincarcerated.⁴

For additional help…

For additional guidance or to discuss your case with a criminal defense lawyer, we invite you to contact our law firm/law offices at the Shouse Law Group. Our attorneys provide both free consultations and legal advice you can trust.

Our lawyers provide legal help throughout California State, including those in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino. These lawyers strive to provide their clients with the best possible outcome that is available for their case.

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