There are three Adult Investigations units, one Pretrial Assessment and Monitoring unit and a Specialized Services unit in the division. The Adult Investigation units conduct felony and misdemeanor pre-sentence investigations and prepare Superior Court reports that include a recommendation as to an appropriate disposition. These units also prepare Notice of Charged Violations, supplemental reports and various memorandums for the Superior Court. One of investigations unit also represents our Agency in the Domestic Violence Court.
The Pretrial unit administers a validated risk assessment for offenders in custody pending Court Proceedings. The assessment results are then filed with Court along with a report during arraignment or the bail review proceedings to assist the Court in release and bail decisions.
The Specialized Services unit supplies the Court with Administrative Hearing Officers for the Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) Offenders. This unit also has Deputy Probation Officers assigned to work with committed AB 109 offenders to address criminogenic risk factors during incarceration and to facilitate individualized and targeted re-entry case plans. There are also two administrative caseloads for offenders residing out of the county and out of state.
Our Primary role is to accurately and thoroughly gather information and prepare various reports for the Court, in order to provide the Court with all in formation necessary to make a judgement. The focus of the officer when making recommendations to the Court is the protection of the community, reparation to victims, and rehabilitation of offenders.
Court Services also spearheaded the County’s Results First Initiative (RFI), an evidence based policymaking program. The RFI is a partnership between the California State Association of Counites and the Pew – MacArthur Foundation geared towards working with states and localities to develop the tools that policy makers need to identify and invest in effective in-custody and community correction programs that yield high returns on investment.