County probation is a sentence ordered by a Superior Court Judge. It allows the convicted person to live in their community, sometimes under the supervision of a County Probation Officer, for a specified period of time. Violation of probation terms, or commission of a new law violation while on probation, can result in local jail time or a sentence to state prison. State Parole is the conditional release of a prison inmate after serving part, or all, of a prison sentence. Parolees are released to live in their community under the supervision of a state parole officer. Violation of the terms and conditions of parole may result in revocation and return to prison.
A third category of offenders are not on either probation or parole. Those are the offenders sentenced under AB109 legislation (Adult Prison Realignment). Some of these offenders have received a split sentence (serving a portion of their incarceration in the county jail and the remainder of their sentence under the supervision of the Probation Officer). Others have been released from State Prison, but due to the offense for which they were incarcerated, they are supervised by Probation Officers instead of State Parole Officers. That category of offenders is called Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS). Both are subject to terms and conditions of release with which they are required to abide or be returned to custody.