Probation chief and presiding judge outline pretrial service shortfalls, funding risks
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Summary
Chief Adult Probation Officer Kara Singer and Presiding Judge Reed told supervisors that pretrial services remain at a reduced level because of staffing shortages and uncertain fee-based revenue; state-level probation funding shortfalls may reduce local capacity without contingency planning.
At a work session during the Jan. 27 board meeting, Chief Adult Probation Officer Kara Singer, accompanied by Presiding Judge Reed and senior staff, briefed supervisors on pretrial services, caseload pressures and fiscal constraints. Judge Reed opened the session by noting sharply higher felony filings and growth in the probation population over the last three years.
Judge Reed said the court system is relying on community-based supervision to provide accountability and rehabilitative supports and stressed the comparative cost advantage: "Probation costs roughly $1,400 per person per year compared to approximately $43,000 per person per year for prison incarceration," he said, underlining the fiscal and social reasons to sustain strong community supervision. Singer summarized the department's assessment: staff are operating with a reduced pretrial-services pool, the office has 27 probation positions budgeted and about 24 filled (three vacancies), and 61% of probation officers have under two years'experience.
Singer and division manager Mary Walsh Navarro said most of the program's revenue comes from fee accounts tied to supervised people; a statewide probation funding shortfall (about $10.4M statewide) includes a roughly $674,000 FY27 hit attributed to Coconino County. The governor's budget proposed a statewide probation shortfall line item, which staff described as hopeful but not guaranteed. Singersaid restoring pretrial services to prior levels requires predictable funding, time for hiring and onboarding, and attention to mandated caseload ratios (standard caseload funded at 65:1; intensive at 15:1).
Staff outlined near-term measures already taken: improved onboarding and supervisor training, an updated case-management system, better administrative support to reduce officer "windshield time," and targeted recruitment. Singer presented possible paths forward including phased restoration, exploring alternative funding, and creating a pretrial-officer classification distinct from probation officer to broaden the hiring pipeline while preserving probation capacity for mandated work.
The board thanked staff for the assessment and asked that pretrial restoration options and budget scenarios be included in upcoming budget deliberations.