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Show Kit FaHsB By ROSELYN KIRK Protecting society as well as rehabilitating rehabili-tating the offender is the goal of Adult Probation and Parole, 37 North Main in Farmington, according to Richard Youngberg, district supervisor. THE AGENCY which operates under the Director of Corrections, an arm of the State Department of Social Services only has a 86. 5 success rate, he said. Statistics from last year show that 13.5 percent of those placed on probation or parole did not commit new crimes. "We work with people early enough in their career of crime to act as a preventative preven-tative agency," he said. MOST OF the offenders referred from the lower courts are charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, petty larceny, lar-ceny, bad check charges or simple assault. as-sault. Those offenders referred from the two district courts are often charged with larceny or burglary. Adult Probation and Parole by law is charged with providing services to the two district courts in the county and the 13 city and justice of the peace courts. When the offender is found to be guilty or pleads guilty to a criminal charge, he is referred to Adult Probation and Parole. PROBATION and Parole officers conduct con-duct an investigation and write a presentence pre-sentence report, Mr. Youngberg said. The report provides the judge with the background of the offender, including prior arrests and the disposition of other cases. The report also includes the details of the present arrest with details provided by the arresting officer. The probation officer hears the version of the defendant and the version of the police officer, Mr. Youngberg said. The truth of the matter is somewhere inbetween. This is published in the report. INCLUDED IN the draft are also details on whether the offender is working or is in school and whether he has psychological or family problems. The probation officer talks to his family, his employees, his neighbors and his psychologist, if he is in therapy. Mr. Youngberg says the interviewing inter-viewing and the writing of the report takes from two to three weeks. This pre-sentence report is given to the judge. The probation officer meets with the judge prior to the sentencing in case the judge has any questions about details of the report. DURING THE period from July 1976 to July 1977, 762 cases were referred to the agency. City and justice of the peace courts referred 644 offenders, while 118 references were from the District Court. After the cases were heard, 700 of those offenders were placed on probation, while 62 went to jail or their offenses were resolved in other ways, Mr. Youngberg said. In most cases, offenders from the city and justice of the peace courts remain under the direction of the probation officers of-ficers for six to 12 months, while those from the district courts are under supervision super-vision from one to two years. Two of the probation officers are headquartered in the office at 25 West 500 South in Bountiful and handle cases in the south end of the county. The five officers housed in the office of-fice in Farmington are responsible for the parole and probation duties from Farmington Far-mington north. MR. YOUNGBERG said that in most cases the officers don't have the time to do much counseling, but act in supervisory super-visory positions referring the offenders to other social service agencies who can help them provide answers to their problems. Sometimes financial counseling is needed. Other times offenders are referred to the Davis County Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation program, Assistance Payments, or Davis County Comprehensive Comprehen-sive Mental Health Department. . PROBATION officers continue to check their living conditions, their associates and their employers as often as they feel a visit is necessary. Mr. Youngberg said, "In some cases that is once a month. In other cases he must check with the offender of-fender twice a week." Each parole officer had about 90 people that he is responsible for? In some cases the offenders are referred to halfway houses in Ogden and Salt Lake City since none are available in Davis County. Mr. Youngberg said there is a need for a halfway house in Davis County. That option op-tion will be available somewhere down the road. MANY OF the offenders that probation officers deal with are first offenders so jail is rarely an alternative. Before a criminal is sentenced to prison he usually Has several offenses. The average number of offenses is twelve, Mr. Youngberg said. Probation and parole officers usually have a degree in some social studies area and frequently have a background in law enforcement. They are deputized and are authorized to arrest offenders and place them in jail or on probation if the need arises. He gave as an example of a case of an offender who was found shooting speed. In that instance, the probation officer of-ficer was also the arresting officer. MR. YOUNGBERG said the crime load is increasing in the county, but so is the population. "Crime is up and there is an increase in alcohol related ofenses." |