WAG 03-23-05
A person is ineligible to receive cash and/or SNAP benefits when they are considered a fugitive felon or probation/parole violator.
For Cash assistance, a fugitive felon is a person fleeing to avoid prosecution, to avoid giving testimony, or to avoid incarceration as a result of their involvement in a felony case.
For SNAP benefits, a fugitive felon is a person fleeing to avoid prosecution or to avoid incarceration as a result of their involvement in a felony case. Consider a person who has escaped from a correctional facility to be a fugitive felon.
A person who is in current violation of their probation or parole for any type of conviction is ineligible for cash and SNAP benefits.
Probation/parole violators must meet the following two conditions:
- the person must have violated a condition of his or her probation or parole; and
- a law enforcement agency must be actively seeking the individual to enforce the conditions of the probation or parole.
Actively seeking is defined as:
- a law enforcement agency presenting to the State agency an arrest warrant which is identified by one of the following National Crime Information Center (NCIS) Uniform Offense Classification Codes:
- Escape (4901);
- Flight to Avoid (prosecution, confinement, etc.) (4902); or
- Flight-Escape (4999): and
- a determination by the State agency that law enforcement is actively seeking to arrest the fugitive felon within 20 days (if law enforcement approaches the State agency) or 30 days (if the State agency initiates the inquiry with law enforcement).
Law Enforcement Response
If the FCRC has reason to suspect that an individual is intentionally fleeing active pursuit from law enforcement, the FCRC must contact the authorities to determine if law enforcement is pursuing legal action, or if a warrant was issued for a matter that is not being actively pursed.
The FCRC must allow the law enforcement agency 20 days to respond to a request for information about the conditions of the warrant or a probation/parole violation and whether the law enforcement agency intends to actively pursue the customer.
If the law enforcement agency does not respond or indicates that it does not intend to enforce the warrant or arrest the customer for the probation/parole violation within 30 days:
- do not consider the customer a fleeing felon or probation/parole violator. Document the law enforcement contact, then determine eligibility.
If the law enforcement agency does indicate that it intends to enforce the warrant within 30 days:
- postpone taking any action on the case until the 30-day period has expired. Once the 30-day period has expired, the FCRC must verify with the law enforcement agency whether it has attempted to execute the warrant. Document the law enforcement contact, then determine eligibility.
FCRC Action
If the law enforcement agency has executed the warrant, take the appropriate action to deny or terminate SNAP eligibility for the customer.
If the law enforcement agency has not attempted to execute the warrant, do not consider the individual to be a fugitive felon or a probation/parole violator. Document this information in the case file.
SNAP applications must be processed within the normal 30-day processing time frame. If verification of fugitive felon or probation/parole violation status has not been verified by day 30, the worker must answer "No", the customer is not a fugitive felon or probation/parole violator, then determine eligibility.
If an individual is determined to be ineligible due to being a fleeing felon, the case file should include a copy of the felony arrest warrant, clear indication of the appropriate NCIC classification code, documentation of whether law enforcement or the State agency initiated presentment of the warrant, and that law enforcement informed the State agency that it intended to enforce the warrant within the appropriate time frame.
