Job Details

Description

Under the general supervision of the Deputy Court Administrator, interviews persons arrested for felonies to provide bond recommendations, completes a risk/needs assessment, and recommends conditions of release. Monitors and supervises felony defendants who are released on conditional bonds and initiates court action of any misconduct. Maintains liaison collaboration between the defendant, the courts, the Prosecutor, the Office of the Public Defender, and other components of the criminal justice system.

Essential Functions

1. Interviews and gathers information on background, length of time in the community, ties to the community, and other relevant data from defendants housed in the County and City of Lansing jails or who have been released on bond. Verifies sources of income during initial face-to-face interviews.

2. Verifies information gathered through criminal history checks utilizing programs including CourtView or other case management system, Judicial Information Services (JIS), Judicial Data Warehouse (JDW), Statewide Records Management System (SRMS), Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) reports, and other sources to determine criminal history, status in the criminal justice system and to assess the likelihood of pretrial misconduct. Maintains current LEIN Operator certification as mandated by the Michigan State Police.

3. Uses independent judgment and discretion to interpret collected data; prepares and submits a bond recommendation report to the Judge regarding conditional release and risk factors. Conducts a risk/needs assessment to determine the likelihood of failure to appear and the risk to public safety. Identifies appropriate referrals and other suitable conditions of release.

4. Uses professional judgment to employ specific Risk Assessment measures to screen clients for participation in the Office of Community Corrections (OCC) high-risk supervision specialty program. Initiates, prepares, and submits timely full-background investigative referral packets for qualified defendants. Evaluates eligible defendants and submits referrals for potential placement into the Felony Mental Health Court grant program.

5. Schedules reporting dates for defendants to ensure compliance with risk-level determined reporting frequencies, records all relevant notes and information pertaining to the pretrial supervision of the defendant, and processes relevant records using departmental standard reporting techniques.

6. Updates and maintains pretrial supervision records to reflect the most recent contact information for all defendants in supervision status. Ensures that the Court, Prosecuting Attorney, Office of the Public Defender or retained counsel have access to all current contact information.

7. Uses professional judgment and discretion to identify and assess the defendant’s needs in areas including physical and mental health, substance abuse, employment counseling and school enrollment. Prepares and provides community resource referral information. Writes and submits related reports for judicial review.

8. Actively monitors and supervises defendants; verifies they understand the conditions of their pre-trial release. Notifies defendants of scheduled court dates and maintains regular contact from pre-trial status through to adjudication. Makes every effort to ensure that the defendant continues to comply with all conditions of release.

9. Authors Pretrial Supervision Summary Reports that encapsulate defendants’ relevant supervision and monitoring information for the Judge’s consideration, review and action.

10. Prepares and submits a report to the Judge if the defendant is non-compliant with terms and conditions of release. Initiates show cause notices, appears in court, and provides testimony and evidence of non-compliance. Makes recommendations to the Court to continue, modify or revoke bond.

Other Functions:

During any public health and / or other emergency situation, the Pretrial Services Investigator may be identified as an essential employee and required to perform duties similar to – but not limited to, those in his/her job description, including such duties as working at alternative worksite locations and schedules, following mandated health and safety protocols, enforcing said protocols for visitors, adapting work processes to accommodate community needs during such public health situations, communicating said changes to supervised clients as applicable, and any other requirements determined necessary, based on the specific needs of the Court in response to a declared public emergency, in order to ensure the efficient continuance of all supervision and other departmental functioning.

An employee in this position may be called upon to do any or all of the above tasks. (These examples do not include all of the tasks which the employees may be expected to perform.)

Employment Qualifications

Education: Possession of a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, the Social Sciences, or a related Human Services field. 

Experience: Two years of law enforcement/investigative experience, or other closely related field which provides familiarity with investigative techniques and the criminal justice system. 

Other Requirements: Possession of a valid Michigan Driver’s License. Maintain LEIN certification. 

This position will also be responsible for conducting pretrial release recommendations and pretrial supervision of felony defendants for the Court. Applicant will be expected to possess or obtain Certified Pretrial Services Professionals (CPSP) certification through the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies. 

Demonstrates effective communication skills by engaging, interacting and working with all individuals to ensure clarity and understanding in all interactions.

The qualifications listed above are intended to represent the minimum skills and experience levels associated with performing the duties and responsibilities contained in this job description. The qualifications should not be viewed as expressing absolute employment or promotional standards, but as general guidelines that should be considered along with other job-related selection or promotional criteria.

Physical Requirements:  [This job requires the ability to perform the essential functions contained in this description. These include, but are not limited to, the following requirements. Reasonable accommodations will be made for otherwise qualified applicants unable to fulfill one or more of these requirements]:

• Ability to access public facilities including the county and city jails.

• Ability to enter and retrieve information from computers.

• Ability to access filing systems.

Working Conditions:

• Contact with individuals in jail or on conditional release that may be prone to anger and violence.

• Exposure to a variety of community locations that may pose health or safety risks.

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