In 1993 Texas created a new "State Jail Felony" punishment for lower level drug and property offenders. A system of State Jails was created to house offenders sentenced to incarceration. The new punishment and correctional system began operating in September 1994. State Jail Felons cannot be sentenced to prison but can be sentenced to serve up to 2 years in a State Jail. State Jail Felons on probation can also serve time in a State Jail as a condition of probation or as a result of a revocation. As used in this report, "recidivism" is defined as "the reincarceration of offenders within 2 years of release from a State Jail." The 2-year recidivism rate for State Jail Felons released in 1998 was 19.4 percent, a 21.5-percent decrease from the recidivism rate of 24.7 percent for the group released in 1997. In 1998 a greater proportion of the offenders released from State Jail received no supervision as a result of their admission for a direct sentence. Offenders released with no supervision are not monitored and cannot have their release revoked for technical violations. The recidivism rate of State Jail Felons released to supervision was mainly driven by technical violations. For the 1998 releasees, for example, the 2-year recidivism rate of those who were released to supervision was 39.4 percent compared to 17.7 percent of those released with no probation supervision. The recidivism rate of releasees from State-operated facilities was compared to those of releasees from privately operated facilities; however, the comparison was done only for male offenders due to the small number of female releasees from privately operated facilities. Overall, female offenders had lower recidivism rates (12.6 percent versus 21.3 percent for males). Male offenders released in FY 1998 from State-operated and privately operated facilities had about the same recidivism rates (21.1 percent versus 21.4 percent). The comparison between the recidivism rates of State Jail Felons and a comparison group of Institutional Division prisoners who received sentences of 2 years for drug and property offenses found that for FY 1997, the recidivism rate of State Jail Felons was higher than that of prisoners (24.7 percent versus 18.3 percent). The relationship reversed in FY 1998, with State Jail Felons having lower recidivism rates than prisoners (19.4 percent versus 22.2 percent). Extensive tabular and graphic data