Releases to State Parole
A person reaches the Chico parole unit only when the release path is state parole after a CDCR prison term or another CDCR parole-related process. That is different from a release from the Butte County Jail at 5 Gillick Way. A local jail event might end with bail, own-recognizance release, sentence served, dismissal, probation, PRCS, transfer to CDCR, transfer to another county, or another hold. The parole unit matters when the person was already in the state-prison system or was booked locally on a parole violation or parole hold.
For Butte County research, the practical question is which agency supervises the person after release. State parole stays with CDCR's Division of Adult Parole Operations. PRCS goes to county supervision after CDCR release, and CDCR states that a person on PRCS is discharged from CDCR jurisdiction. County probation is a court sentence or condition. These labels can appear close together in booking logs and court records, but they lead to different offices and different records.
How to Confirm Parole Status
Confirm the underlying custody path before calling the parole office. Use CDCR records and CIRIS to establish whether the person was a state prisoner, and use Butte Superior Court records to see whether the local case produced a prison commitment, a parole violation result, probation, or some other disposition. If the person was released from state prison to parole in the Butte County area, the Chico parole unit is the relevant local office.
- Check the Butte booking log for parole-hold, parole-violation, or CDCR-related language, while remembering that the log is not proof of final release.
- Search CIRIS for a current CDCR record or state-prison context, using a CDCR number when available.
- Review the court docket for disposition, revocation, sentence, warrant, or prison-commitment entries that explain why the jail event ended.
- Use the Chico parole unit only for state parole supervision questions after CDCR release or parole-related local custody.
- If the record points to PRCS rather than parole, use Butte County Probation instead.
Chico Parole Records and Contact
CDCR's Northern Region directory lists the Chico parole unit at 1370 Ridgewood Drive, Suite 14, Chico, CA 95973, phone (530) 895-4534. For a release-status question, prepare the person's full name, CDCR number if known, date of birth if available, Butte County case number if known, and the reason you believe the person is on state parole. Parole staff are not a substitute for the Sheriff's Records Office when the only issue is a county jail booking and release record.
CDCR Chico Parole Unit
Address: 1370 Ridgewood Drive, Suite 14, Chico, CA 95973
Phone: (530) 895-4534
Agency: CDCR Division of Adult Parole Operations
Use for: state parole after CDCR release, parole reporting, and parole-related supervision in the Butte County area
About the Chico Parole Unit
The Chico parole unit is a CDCR field office, not a jail, court, or probation department. It supervises people released to state parole in the region. It does not publish a Butte County release list and does not confirm all people who left the county jail. Its role is narrower: state parole after prison, parole violations, parole reporting, and CDCR supervision questions.
The local geography can be confusing because Butte Probation's Chico office is also listed at 1370 Ridgewood Drive, but in Suite 22, while the CDCR Chico parole unit is Suite 14. That physical closeness does not make parole and probation the same system. Parole is state supervision after prison. Probation is a court-ordered county supervision sentence or condition. PRCS is county supervision after eligible CDCR release. A records search should name the correct one.
BPH Decisions Before Parole
Some state-prison releases are connected to the California Board of Parole Hearings. BPH schedules include date, time, location, and whether a hearing is in person or by video conference, and the schedules are updated weekly on Thursday morning. Results are posted by week and month with outcome labels such as grant, deny, continue, cancelled, split, postpone, waive, and stipulation. A grant is not always immediate release because proposed decisions can be reviewed by the Board's legal division, the full Board, and sometimes the Governor.
For a Butte County parole question, BPH can explain a release decision or suitability result, while the Chico parole unit can help identify local state-parole supervision after release. If the person never entered CDCR custody, BPH and the parole unit are not the right route. Use VINE, Butte Superior Court, and Sheriff's Records for county jail release confirmation.
Parole Is Not PRCS or Probation
PRCS is a common source of confusion in California. CDCR describes PRCS as county supervision after release from CDCR and says the person is discharged from CDCR jurisdiction once on PRCS. In Butte County, PRCS runs through the Probation Department, not the Chico parole unit. Probation also supervises people placed on probation by the court without a state-prison parole term.
Booking logs can include parole holds, PRCS holds, and probation violations, but those entries identify why the person was booked or held, not the final release. A parole hold might lead to release back to parole, revocation, return to state custody, or another court outcome. A PRCS or probation matter may go through Butte Probation and the Superior Court. The release confirmation should follow the label shown in the court and custody records.