Job Details for Probation Services Technician (2024)

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Position Description

The salary at time of appointment will be set in accordance with the Court Personnel System. Lateral transfers will be considered for probation support technicians currently employed in other districts. A lateral transfer is considered a technician’s current Classification Level (up to CL-24) and Step from their current pay table to the Fresno Pay Table. The agency is unable to match locality pay.

The Probation Support Technician provides technical, administrative, and clerical support to probation officers and officer assistants in a wide range of areas, including assisting with conducting investigations, compiling criminal histories, coordinating with collateral agencies, and performing other similar duties, as assigned.

The incumbent performs the following duties for the U.S. Probation Office.Representative duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Performs primary receptionist duties by greeting visitors/callers in person and by telephone, answering routine questions, and directing visitors/callers to the appropriate person or department.Route all duty calls to duty officers and maintain a tally of calls per duty officer.
• Conduct case file reviews and advise officers and officer assistants of matters needing their attention. Make chronological entries in supervision case records. Conduct records research and retrieval via telephone or mail to obtain required documentation. Set up new supervision case records and perform various file management tasks. Assist officers in responding to collateral requests for information. Assemble and process information to the Sentencing Commission. Keep various logs and records up to date.
• Format, type, edit, and finalize reports and correspondence from rough drafts using word processing equipment. This may include, but is not limited to, documents such as presentence investigation reports, supervision case plans and reviews, and memoranda or reports to the court.
• Complete various standard forms for submission to the court and legal counsel using information provided by officers, including petitions, orders to the court, and similar documents.
• Operate the local/state law enforcement information retrieval system and Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) terminals to obtain criminal history information and route the information to appropriate recipients. Obtain fingerprint and credit checks, verifications of employment and education, and send FBI flash notices.
• Open, close, and update information into computerized records, including the Probation Automated Case Tracking Systems (PACTS). Research information from case records and enter into system as appropriate. Screen forms completed by officers and officer assistants and request corrections as needed. Retrieve information from databases and generate periodic reports.
• Participate in problem solving at staff meetings with other support staff, officers, and officer assistants. Make constructive suggestions for improvement in work processes to better achieve goals and objectives. Periodically act as administrative and clerical facilitator to distribute/redistribute work and optimize office support operations, as required.
• Performs other duties as assigned

Qualification

The minimum qualification requirements for this position are:

• High school graduate or equivalent
• For placement at Step 1: One year of specialized experience
• Consideration for placement at Step 2 - 25:Two years of specialized experience

Specialized Experience

Progressively responsible clerical or administrative experience requiring the regular and recurring application of clerical procedures that demonstrate the ability to apply a body of rules, regulations, directives, or laws and involve the routine use of specialized terminology and automated software and equipment for word processing, data entry or report generation. Such experience is commonly encountered in law firms, legal counsel offices, banking and credit firms, educational institutions, social service organizations, insurance companies, real estate and title offices, and corporate headquarters or human resources/payroll operations..

Court-Preferred Skills:A Probation Services Technician must possess the ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of people of diverse backgrounds; ability to work in a diverse office environment with frequent interruptions; ability to maintain a professional and approachable disposition; possess the ability and demonstrate the willingness to increase knowledge and skills; possess the ability and desire to function effectively and harmoniously in the office environment; possess demonstrated and sustained exceptional work performance. The following is a desirable skill for a Probation Services Technician; however, is not required: Bilingual (English/Spanish).

Benefits

U.S. Probation Office employees are Judicial Branch employees and are not covered by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations. They are, however, entitled to the same benefits as other Federal employees. Some of these benefits are:

• Up to 13 days paid vacation per year for the first three years of employment; up to 20 days per year until the 15th year of service; thereafter, 26 days per year.Sick leave earned at four hours per pay period (13 days per year)
• Participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System and in a tax-deferred and/or Roth Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)--similar to a 401K plan (with up to 5% match)
• Voluntary participation in Federal health insurance, dental, and vision programs
• Voluntary participation in the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program
• Up to 11 paid holidays per year
• Optional enrollment in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP), Federal Judiciary employees’ Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and commuter benefits programs
• Time-in-service with other Federal agencies and prior military service will be taken into consideration in computing employee benefits

Miscellaneous

Required Clearances: A criminal background investigation (requiring the applicant to be fingerprinted) will be conducted on the person selected for hire.

Citizenship: Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident that is eligible to work in the U.S. and is either currently seeking U.S. citizenship or intends to become a U.S. citizen when eligible. To review citizenship requirements for employment in the Judiciary, please visit https:///www.uscourts.gov.

Failure to submit the above documents in one pdf document will result in immediate disqualification. Incomplete applications will not be considered, retained, or returned. Only one application per candidate will be accepted for this announcement.

• The U.S. Probation Office, Eastern Judicial District of California, is headquartered in Sacramento, with offices in Roseville, Elk Grove, Redding, Modesto, Fresno (Divisional Office), Visalia, and Bakersfield.Although it is the agency’s practice to try to accommodate individual duty station preferences, all employees of the United States Probation Office are subject to transfer to any office in the judicial district, if necessary, to perform the work of the courts
• All employees (except law enforcement officers) of the U. S. Probation Office are considered “at will” employees and, as such, can be terminated with or without cause by the Court
• Employees of the federal judiciary must adhere to all Judicial Conference regulations, follow the policies in the Guide to Judiciary Policy, and are bound by the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees
• The U.S. Probation Office is not authorized to reimburse applicants for interview or relocation expenses
• This position is subject to mandatory Electronic Funds Transfer participation for payment of net pay
• The office reserves the right to amend or withdraw this announcement without written notice to applicants
• More than one position may be filled from this announcement
• Performance will be monitored closely during the first year in this position
• Qualified applicants may be required to complete a written test/exercise prior to consideration of an interview
• Due to the volume of applications received, only applicants who are tested and/or interviewed will receive a written response regarding their application status

How To Apply

To apply for the Probation Services Technician position, qualified candidates are required to submit the following in one pdf document in the following order:

• A cover letteraddressed to Chief U.S. Probation Officer Mindy McQuivey, U.S. Probation Office, 501 I Street, Suite 2500, Sacramento, California 95814 (see instructions below)
• A current detailed resume (including training that you have completed and certifications obtained)
• AO-78, Federal Judicial Branch Application for Employment (Revised 3/2024). Download from https://www.caep.uscourts.gov or https://www.uscourts.gov.
• Title the pdf document as follows:Last Name - First Name - 24-06
• Email to:caep_hr@caep.uscourts.gov by 5p.m. PTon June 24, 2024

The cover letter should include the following information; however, not exceed two pages:

• The vacancy announcement number (24-06)
• Why you are interested in the position
• Strengths/job skills that qualify you for this position

The federal Judiciary is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.