US Probation and Pretrial Services Officer

• Conduct investigations and prepare reports for the Court with recommendations, which require interviewing offenders/defendants and their families, as well as collecting background data from various sources.
• Interpret and apply policies, procedures, statutes, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures, and U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Tracks legal developments, and updates staff and the Court.
• Investigates and analyzes financial documents and activities and takes appropriate action. Interviews victim(s) and provides victim impact statements to the Court. Ensure compliance with Mandatory Victims Restitution Act.
• Analyze and respond to any objections. This may include resolving disputed issues and presenting unresolved issues to the Court for resolution.
• Investigate employment, sources of income, lifestyle, and associates to assess risk and compliance. Addresses substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, and similar problems and implements the necessary treatment or violation proceedings, through assessment, monitoring, and counseling.
• Enforce court-ordered supervision components and implement supervision strategies.
• Maintain personal contact with defendants and offenders through office and community contacts to maximize adherence to imposed conditions, reduce risk of danger to the community, reduce risk of nonappearance, and provide correctional treatment.
• Schedule and conduct drug use detection tests and DNA collection of offenders/defendants, following established procedures and protocols. Maintains records of test results and chain of custody of urinalysis testing materials. Maintains detailed record of case activity. Conducts surveillance and/or search and seizure at the direction of the Court.
• Other duties as assigned

Conditions of employment

Prior to appointment, the selectee considered for the position will undergo a medical examination and drug screening. Upon successful completion of the medical examination and drug screening, the selectee may then be appointed provisionally, pending a favorable suitability determination by the Court. In addition, as conditions of employment, the incumbent will be subject to ongoing random drug screening, updated background investigations every five years and, as deemed necessary by management for reasonable cause, may be subject to subsequent fitness-for-duty evaluations. The medical requirements and essential job functions derived from the medical guidelines for Probation and Pretrial Services officers and Officer Assistants are available for public review on the USCourts.gov website under Officer and Officer Assistant Medical Requirements.

Qualifications

All probation officer positions require completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a field of academic study, which provides evidence of the capacity to understand and apply the legal requirements and human relations skills involved in the position. In addition to meeting the required education identified above, applicants at each grade level must also have additional education or specialized experience as described below:

Specialized Experience is progressively responsible experience, in such fields as probation, pretrial services, parole, corrections, criminal investigations, or work in substance/addiction treatment, public administration, human relations, social work, psychology or mental health. Experience as a police officer, custodial officer, or security officer, other than with any criminal investigative experience, is not creditable.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Selected candidates will be invited to participate in an interview and/or testing. Reference checks will be conducted on top candidates. More than one candidate may be selected from the applicant pool.

• Cover letter explaining your interest in pursuing this position and detailing your specialized experience, preferred qualifications, and steps you have taken to prepare for this position.
• Completed application Form AO78 - Application for Judicial Branch Federal Employment
• Chronological resume.
• Three professional references.
• Two most recent performance evaluations.
• The single .pdf document should be named: Last Name, First Name USPO 26-02 USPO.

Next steps

Fair and transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.