How do I transfer probation or parole to another state under the Interstate Compact?

A transfer is not something you arrange by moving. Probation or parole supervision moves to another state through the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS). The compact calls that a privilege the rules can allow. It is not a constitutional right to live where you want while you are still under supervision.

This guide is for someone who was placed on probation or parole in one state and wants supervision moved to another. If a transfer already happened and a state is now trying to bring you back, start with What should I do if a probation retaking starts under the Interstate Compact? or What should I do if a parole retaking starts under the Interstate Compact?.

Good to know: The sending state decides whether to ask. When the mandatory criteria are met, ICAOS Rule 3.101 says the receiving state shall accept the transfer. If you do not meet those criteria, a discretionary transfer can still be requested under the compact, but both states have to agree.

What a mandatory transfer usually requires

Rule 3.101 says that, at the sending state’s discretion, a person is eligible and the receiving state shall accept supervision when all of the following are true:

• Time left. More than 90 calendar days of supervision remain when the request is sent, or the supervision period is indefinite.
• A real plan. There is a valid plan of supervision in the other state.
• Compliance. You are in substantial compliance with probation or parole in the sending state. The sending state decides that. ICAOS has said that if the sending state has taken no action on outstanding warrants or pending charges, the person is treated as in substantial compliance.
• A tie to that state. You are a resident of the receiving state, or you have resident family there who are willing and able to help as the plan describes, and you can get a job there or you have another means of support.

“Resident” is narrower than “I have people there.” Under the ICAOS definition, it means you lived in that state continuously for at least one year immediately before either the supervision start date or the sentence date for the original offense, you intend it to be your principal home, and you have not spent six continuous months somewhere else with the intent to make that your new home. Time incarcerated, or on active military orders, is treated differently. “Resident family” is also defined. It is a listed relative who has lived in the receiving state for 180 days or more and will actually help with the plan. A friend, or a relative who just moved, may not qualify.

The plan has to be a place someone can check. Bring a physical address and the names of the people who live there. A post office box does not show where you will live.

What to do with your officer

Tell the officer who supervises you that you want to request a transfer. Do not treat the request as permission to leave.

The application is part of the compact, not a casual note. Rule 3.109 requires a written waiver of extradition, signed when you apply, covering any state you might abscond to while under supervision in the receiving state. States in the compact also waive formal extradition requirements for supervised people who are fugitives. Read that waiver before you sign it. It is about how you can be returned later. It is not, by itself, a waiver of the probable cause hearing described in the retaking guides linked above.

Your sending state submits the request through the Interstate Compact Offender Tracking System (ICOTS). You do not file that request yourself.

The wait

Rule 3.104 gives the receiving state until the 45th calendar day after its compact office receives a completed request to investigate and respond. The investigation looks at the residence, support, and the rest of the plan.

While that is pending, you generally stay under the sending state’s authority. The ICAOS bench book states that a court cannot authorize the move until the receiving state has accepted supervision and issued reporting instructions, and that leaving before then is not how a transfer works. Travel that was already allowed for work or medical care is a different question from packing up because the request is “in.” Leaving early, without reporting instructions, can be reported as absconding.

There are narrow exceptions. People who already live in the receiving state at sentencing, or after a violation disposition, may qualify for faster reporting instructions under Rule 3.103. An emergency path also exists when both states agree. Those are exceptions. They are not a reason to leave on your own.

If the transfer is approved

Approval comes with reporting instructions: when you may travel, and when and where you report to the officer in the receiving state. Report as those instructions say. You follow the receiving state’s supervision conditions, and you remain bound by the sending state’s order. A completed transfer does not end probation or parole.

The public can look up some completed transfers, and some cases still under consideration, on the ICOTS Public Web Portal. The full rules are on the ICAOS website.

If you want help before you ask

Bring the judgment or order, your conditions, the address you want to use, and the names of the family members who would support the plan. Logan Mussman Law PLLC has consultants available for probation and parole questions under the Interstate Compact. Request a free consultation, and read the firm’s Interstate Compact page for how a transfer differs from a later retaking.

Summary

1. Check whether you qualify

• More than 90 days of supervision left when the request is sent, or an indefinite period.
• Substantial compliance with probation or parole in the sending state.
• You are a resident of the receiving state, or you have resident family there who can help, plus a job or other means of support.
• A verifiable place to live. A post office box is not a residence.
• If you miss the mandatory criteria, a discretionary transfer is possible only if both states agree.

2. Talk to your probation or parole officer

• Tell your officer you want an interstate transfer.
• Give physical addresses and contacts in the receiving state.
• Sign the written waiver of extradition. It is part of the application.

3. Wait while the other state investigates

• Your sending state submits the request through ICOTS. You do not file it yourself.
• The receiving state has up to 45 days to check your residence, work, and family support.
• Stay in the sending state unless you have reporting instructions. Leaving early can be treated as absconding.

4. If you are approved, move only when instructed

• Wait for reporting instructions that say when you may travel and where to report.
• Check in as those instructions say.
• Follow the receiving state’s conditions. You are still bound by the sentencing state’s order.

The full rules are on the ICAOS website. Some case status is on the ICOTS Public Web Portal.