Pretrial Services Investigator - Special Part-Time

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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

• 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.

• Assists Circuit Court and Ingham County Jail Administration, during ongoing jail overcrowding events, in reviewing and recommending defendants who have not been sentenced or entered into a plea agreement to be considered for potential conditional release.

• Responds to requests for information from the defendant and or counsel, court staff, jail personnel, and the Prosecutor’s office. Prepares various reports, forms, documents and other correspondence, including out of state travel requests, employment requests, and audit reports for the Judge or Judicial Staff upon their request.

• On a statewide and county level, collaborates with Specialty Court programs and other intra/interdepartmental Pretrial and Probation offices; shares allowable information regarding the supervision, pre-trial compliance and case progress of defendants. Strategically coordinates with these departments to reduce redundancies in testing and monitoring defendants, and manages court resources effectively.

• Exercises professional judgment and discretion in determining when to share pertinent information related to the treatment, rehabilitation, or case supervision of defendants with correctional and detention facilities, probation offices, public and private mental health providers, attorneys and staff, employers, educational institutions, victim advocates, and other agencies required to properly conduct background checks or ongoing case management.

• Practices effective time management strategies to maintain accurate case files for each supervised defendant on the assigned caseload. Proficient in using case management software, imaging systems and other case management technology, editing forms, documents, and spreadsheets.

• May serve as a secondary LEIN TAC to the Senior Pretrial Services Investigator. Verifies record accuracy and completeness, performs monthly record validations, and administrates certification exams to new LEIN operators. Confirms and ensures all rules and policies for LEIN compliance are understood and implemented.

• Attends and participates in scheduled staff meetings and in-service training sessions relevant to Pretrial Services, the General Trial Division, Ingham County Court’s Information Technology Department, Human Resources, and other meetings and trainings as directed.

• Participates in advocating for and educating various committees and the Ingham County Board of Commissioners about Pretrial Services, including, but not limited to preparing documents, providing statistical information, and attending Committee and Board meetings, as requested.

• As requested by the Deputy Court Administrator and/or the Senior Pretrial Services Investigator, participates in the development and implementation of policies, procedures and services/programs related to investigator duties.

• Assists in the training of newer Pretrial Investigators as needed, during the onboarding process, and continues until mastery of pretrial and other relevant skills are attained. Provides assistance and instruction with increasingly difficult cases and/or issues that arise during the management of cases assigned to new Pretrial Investigators.

• Assists in maintaining the Pretrial Services Division database by inputting all required information into the records management system regarding all felony defendants. Generates statistical data upon request.

• Identifies need for deaf or foreign language interpreters at time of initial contact with a defendant. Makes referrals to other agencies and defense counsel as needed.

• Participates in coordinating the internship program within the Pretrial Services Division by communicating with Administration and local colleges’ internship coordinators. Assists in recruitment, reviews letters of interest and resumes received from internship candidates, interviews, and participates in the selection of interns. Develops schedules for interns and takes on primary training responsibilities for interns. Supervises and evaluates intern performance in assigned work activities. Evaluated and communicates the overall punctuality, responsibility, and performance measurements of an intern to the academic programs of the respective educational institutions for the issuance of academic credit for the completed internship.

• Serves as backup support to other departmental positions during staff absences, including case management coverage for the positions of Pretrial Services Investigator, Senior Pretrial Services Investigator, and the Office of Community Corrections (OCC) Grant-Funded Program Pretrial Services Investigator. Performs the tasks of the Pretrial Services Clerk in their absence and completes Felony Pleas in the absence of both the Bindover and Pretrial Services Clerks.

• Adheres to all Departmental Standards in regards to HIPPA, IT Security Awareness and all other privacy and confidentiality standards. Carries out all duties within the court environment in such a way as to maintain the security, safety and integrity of all persons working in or served by the Court.

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.

Requirements and Working Conditions

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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