Lawmakers, corrections officials debate pretrial, parole and probation staffing as caseloads rise

Chairman Nelson and members of the Appropriations — Human Resources Division heard March 6 from Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials about staffing requests for pretrial services and for parole and probation, and about rising community supervision caseloads.

Michelle Zander, chief financial officer for DOCR, told the committee the pretrial program’s base budget is $2,600,000 and that the agency requested three new full-time positions—one in the South Central Judicial District (Bismarck/Mandan), one in Minot and one in Fargo. She said the Senate’s version of the budget removed the Fargo position. Zander also said the department will seek a federal Justice and Mental Health Collaboration grant to offset operating costs and noted the department applied previously but did not receive the award.

Tom Earhart, chief probation and probation officer, presented a March 6 caseload snapshot and said the department’s combined adult community supervision caseload has increased to roughly 7,100 people statewide. He read a staffing table showing, among other lines, about 51 front-line probation officers/case managers with an average caseload around 70 and about 14 pretrial staff with an average caseload around 46. Earhart said specialized caseload officers (drug court, sex-offender work, domestic-violence caseloads) carry lower averages and added the American Probation and Parole Association’s recommended ratios were used as context.

DOCR Director Colby Braun told lawmakers that pretrial services expand most quickly where the program is funded full time and used regularly by judges and local stakeholders; he said Burleigh (Bismarck)/Morton County use has grown because pretrial was funded full time there. Committee members pressed whether Fargo’s reduced position would hurt capacity; members and department staff said expanding full‑time coverage in judicial districts tends to increase program use.

On parole and probation, Zander said the base-level budget was roughly $26.8 million and the executive request included two positions that convert long‑term temporary community corrections agents to authorized full‑time positions (one in Bismarck, one in Williston). The department also told the committee it secured a roughly $2.5 million federal drug-court grant and budgeted a $186,000 state match to hire temporary coordinators; the grant increased the department’s temporary payroll request for the biennium.

Lawmakers raised the long‑running question of supervision fees. Committee members and department witnesses said the state bills about $6 million in supervision fees each biennium but collects about 23–25 percent of that amount (roughly $1.5 million in collections). The department said converting special-fund fee revenue to general fund support was included in reentry-related bills being considered by the Legislature and that the budget and those bills are interdependent.

Committee members repeatedly pressed staff on officer safety and on whether caseloads exceed recommended levels. Earhart said officers frequently work alone in remote areas, sometimes without cell coverage, and that the department issues radios and cell phones, trains staff in scenario-based safety practices and has not had a recent staff assault in probation and parole. Lawmakers also asked the department to provide interstate and out‑of‑state comparisons for caseloads; Earhart said he would gather that data.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the requests during the session transcripted here. Members asked staff to return with more detail on caseload trends, results from the drug-court grant and the practical effect of the Senate removal of the Fargo pretrial position.