Arizona chief justice calls for competitive pay in adult probation caseload 'crisis' order
Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel on Friday issued an order declaring a crisis in the reported shortage of adult probation officers.
Staffing shortages, according to Brutinel’s order, have led eight counties to be out of compliance with state caseload size requirements, which call for no more than an average of 65 adults per probation officer.
Some departments, according to the order, currently have a vacancy rate of 20% or more. There have been “officer and community safety issues” in one unnamed county where the caseload exceeds 100 probationers to an officer, Brutinel’s order states.
“In the past when similar circumstances developed, sentencing judges lost confidence in probation’s ability to provide quality supervision due to high caseloads. As a result, judges began to sentence significantly more people to prison, not wanting to endanger local communities,” Brutinel’s order reads.
The chief justice’s “Adult Probation Supervision Caseload Crisis” order calls for presiding superior court judges, along with probationary chiefs or directors, to take action so their departments are compliant when caseloads exceed the required maximum for 90 days or more.
The order calls for judges to implement “any combination” of eight actions. Among these recommendations for judges is to work with county boards of supervisors to establish competitive salaries for probation officers.
Brutinel’s order addresses some of the contributing factors to the “particularly competitive” probationary officer job market, attributing it to the applicant pool being used by multiple federal, state and local government agencies.
“Current economic conditions have created a tight labor market, making it difficult to maintain full staffing of adult probation officer positions in the Superior Court of Arizona,” Brutinel’s order reads. Departments are unable to draw or retain officers “due to the low starting salary combined with soaring housing costs in some areas of the state.”
The order says Maricopa County, which follows the state’s caseload size requirements, has competitive salaries for its probation officer hires.
The order also calls for the Administrative Office of the Courts to take three actions: request "sufficient" funds in the 2024 fiscal year budget to boost officer salaries to a competitive rate; conduct a study to determine salary rates needed to attract and retain officers; review each department’s staff and change positions without probation cases to those with cases.
Other recommendations for judges: move juvenile probation officers to supervising probationers aged 18 and 19; determine whether any offender can receive lowered or no supervision or be released early from probation; speed up petitions for probation removal; convert probation officer positions without cases to those with; have probation supervisors handle probation cases; put any excess “intensive” probation officers to supervise “standard” probationers.
Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on Twitter @jrgzztx.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's chief justice declares probation officer shortage a 'crisis'
