Amador County – Amador County Probation Chief Mark Bonini gave an idea of the workload his office faces Tuesday when the Amador County Board of Supervisors was considering a draft budget for 2011-2012.

The Probation Chief came to Supervisors with a budget that was $130,000 over what the Board requested that Probation meet. Supervisor Richard Forster said Supervisors needed a better idea of the workload the Probation department faces.

Bonini said when he took over as chief in 2007, he attempted to backfill two vacant positions. Instead, department hiring was frozen. Probation now has been down three positions since October 2008. He said: “There are 11 of us, and that once was 14,” a 21 percent reduction of probation officers in three years, and a 57 percent reduction of support staff in that time, another seven people were lost.

The reduction in staff has been done with creative ways to oversee people on probation. They have also turned over eight vehicles, given to other county departments. He said “I don’t have any vacant or unfunded positions.”

Forster said “caseloads are pretty extreme that officers are carrying.” Bonini said people who have not worked in Probation would think the caseloads were not possible. Two officers supervise 280 felons, or about 140 each. Another officer is handling 480 cases, and “if a person gets in trouble, we have to file violations.”

Two officers cover courts, for violations in court; and two handle 90 juvenile cases, from beginning to end. Those include contact with family, schools, and the offenders, “so caseload numbers have to be reduced.” Bonini said a “Youthful Offender Block Grant” has helped fund and put in place an automated check-in system for youths to ease the workload.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the budget shortfall “comes down to a decision by this board.” He said they could ask Bonini to see about continuing with a 36-hour work week, or it might be equivalent to laying off one officer.

Supervisor Brian Oneto said he would like Bonini to go back and work to try to bring the number down. Forster said they should also try to get the union to consider the issue of work week hours.

Plasse said “our desire is to retain jobs and not send people home, and it’s a lot easier to help those that help themselves.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.