A supervised individual not subject to the ICAOS is not eligible to have their supervision transferred to another state, but neither are they restricted in their travel, except as otherwise ordered by the sentencing court. See Sanchez v. N.J. State Parole Bd., 845 A.2d 687, 692 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2004) (“New York cannot have it both ways. If CSL defendants do not fall within the purview of ICAOS, then New Jersey has no obligation to prevent them from moving to New York. If New York is willing to permit the change of residency, assuming the other criteria of ICAOS are met, we expect that New Jersey will cooperate fully to the extent and in the manner allowed by the laws of this state and the rules of ICAOS.”)

Supervised individuals with three months or less of supervision and not subject to some form of community supervision are generally free to travel. This is in large measure because the duration of supervision does not warrant further consideration in the receiving state or because the nature of the offense is such that a court did not see continuing supervision as a necessary element of the sentence. For example, the Compact does not cover individuals convicted of low-level misdemeanor offenses and is subject only to “bench probation” with no reporting requirements or conditions other than monetary conditions, the only requirement of which is to “go and commit no further offense.” However, a court should not attempt to circumvent the Compact by placing supervised individuals on “unsupervised” status, particularly those who pose a public safety risk. Such an action would undermine the purpose of the Compact and could encourage other states to adopt similar practices, compromising the Compact’s underlying principles. Placing a supervised individual on “bench probation” to circumvent the ICAOS poses a significant risk of additional harm to the community, especially if the individual is high risk.

The ICAOS contains no provision authorizing “side agreements” between member states, thus the Compact is the only means for transfer of supervision.