NCJ Number
171611
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 61 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1997) Pages: 71-75
Date Published
1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This comparison of the Federal and State probation systems in New Hampshire examines how the two systems are organized and how they implement their mission.
Abstract
Organizationally, the two systems differ significantly. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is an executive branch agency, with the probation division as a component of the department. At the Federal level, U.S. probation/pretrial services is organized under the judicial branch of the government. Further, under New Hampshire's probation system, there is no correlation between workload and the assignment of resources; whereas, in Federal probation/pretrial services, resources are linked directly to the "rise and fall" of the workload and are adjusted annually up or down, depending on the volume of case activity generated by prosecuting agencies. Also, in the State system, once the budget allocation is received, there is no meaningful appeal process and no ability to "reprogram" or shift funds from one account to another to address shortfalls. On the other hand, the Federal probation system has significant flexibility to respond to competing demands. Other sections of this article compare the philosophy and mission of the State and Federal probation systems, agency oversight, automation capability, and training.