Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Probation Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Probation department reports wide staffing shortfalls while supervising about 13,000 people
Summary
Chief Probation Officer Kirk Haines told the board the department faces dozens of vacancies across classifications, is holding hiring to manage the budget and will prioritize filling front‑line deputy probation officer posts in 2025–26.
Fresno County's Probation Department told supervisors the department will operate at the current staffing ceiling for fiscal year 2025'26 but continues to face substantial vacancies that affect supervision workloads and juvenile institution staffing.
Chief Probation Officer Kirk Haines said the department's recommended appropriations for service and community programs total $68,768,364 and that staffing is recommended at 362 positions. "When we include all of our, warrants and those kind of things, it's about 13,000 altogether," Haines said, describing the size of the population under supervision.
Haines told the board the department entered the budget year with targeted hiring controls and had held vacancies to limit layoffs and manage costs. He said the department was carrying 28 deputy probation officer (DPO) vacancies of 215 allocated DPO positions, 50 of 197 juvenile custody officer (JCO) vacancies and 17 of 40 probation technician vacancies (figures as of September 10). Haines said those gaps had led to combined caseloads and coverage pressure in some supervision units.
The department's institutional budget for the juvenile justice campus (JJC) showed recommended appropriations of $52,815,670 and staffing of 241 positions; Haines said the department will prioritize mandated programs and Title 15/24 compliance at the JJC if staffing remains tight.
Haines said the department plans targeted recruitments for DPOs in 2025'26 and continues to work with the CAO and human resources on continuous recruitments and a reserve JCO classification to help retention and coverage. He also thanked the board for capital project and program support at the JJC, including investment in vocational programs and planned building work.
Ending: Probation said it will continue to monitor vacancies and focus limited hiring resources on the most serious felony supervision caseloads and mandated institutional requirements; the CAO indicated coordination on targeted hires will continue.
