An offender 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.”)

Offenders with three months or less of supervision and offenders 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 a necessary element of the sentence. For example, the Compact does not cover individuals convicted of low-level misdemeanor offenses and 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 offenders on “unsupervised” status, particularly offenders who pose a public safety risk. Such an action would not comport with the purpose of the Compact, and may act to encourage other states to take similar actions thereby compromising the underlying principles of the Compact. Placing an offender on “bench probation” as a means of circumventing the ICAOS carries with it the high probability of additional harm to the community especially if the offender 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.