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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 2, 2016 10:24 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | County Adult Probation Agencies |
| I will be introducing legislation to provide much-needed support and organization to the 65 county adult probation and parole departments in the Commonwealth. These county agencies supervise 86% of offenders, while the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole supervises 14%. According to a 2015 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee report, many new responsibilities have been placed on county adult probation departments in the last 10 years with little or no additional funding. The dedicated staff of county adult probation departments work largely independent of each other and follow a patchwork of different policies and procedures. My legislation will create a Criminal Court Judges’ Commission to oversee adult probation services, similar to how the Juvenile Court Judges Commission oversees juvenile probation departments. This commission would serve as a liaison between the county adult probation departments and the adult criminal courts, the Governor’s Office, and the General Assembly. The commission would also administer the grant-in-aid program that is currently administered by the Board of Probation and Parole. People often mistakenly assume that the Board of Probation and Parole is the “parent agency” to county adult probation departments. The Board, however, is under the executive branch of government while the county probation departments are under the judicial branch. Given the trend toward reducing the state prison population and imposing greater responsibilities on the counties, it is time to create a commission within the judicial branch to oversee the operations of county adult probation agencies. Please join me in sponsoring this legislation. |
Memo Updated: May 2, 2016 10:25 AM