East Brookfield Division of the District Court Department-Review of Probation Supervision Fees: Transactions and Monitoring of Fulfillment by Probationers

This is a state audit report about how the East Brookfield District Court handled monthly probation supervision fees and community service for people on probation from July 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.

“This report presents the results of our audit testing at EBDC specifically.”

The Auditor reviewed this court as part of a broader audit of whether Trial Court locations were properly assessing, recording, and monitoring probation supervision fees.

“Our overall audit of the Trial Court’s administration of PSFs (Report No. 2014-5160-3J) included audit testing at 16 district-court locations, including EBDC, to assess the process the Trial Court has established for PSFs, determine whether PSF-related transactions were properly documented in court records, and determine whether probationers were adequately monitored to ensure that they were fulfilling the PSF requirement.”

The issue matters because the law requires judges to charge probation fees unless they formally find that payment would be too hard for the probationer, in which case community service must be required instead.

“The PSF can be waived (in which case community service must be performed) upon order of the court after a finding of fact establishing that the probationer cannot pay the fee.”

For residents, this audit is about whether the court followed the rules for collecting public money or requiring community service, and whether the Commonwealth may have missed fee revenue that should have been paid.

“As a result, the Commonwealth may be forgoing PSFs that probationers would have been able to pay.”

The Auditor found two main problems: judges sometimes let probation officers choose between fees and community service without the required hardship finding, and the court did not track community service hours well enough in one central place.

“Some judges at the East Brookfield Division of the District Court Department (EBDC) allow a person’s probation officer to choose whether s/he should pay a monthly probation supervision fee (PSF) or perform community service, a procedure that is contrary to Section 87A of Chapter 276 of the Massachusetts General Laws.”

The Auditor recommended that the court document fee decisions properly, create a central way to track community service, and regularly report completed hours into MassCourts.

“EBDC should establish a centralized method of tracking community service performed.”

The audit found that the court transmitted $402,468 in probation supervision fees during the audit period, but that was about 77% of the estimated potential revenue after accounting for community service.

“Taking into account the number of individuals required to perform community service, EBDC’s actual transmittals were approximately 77% of the estimated potential PSF revenue.”

A probation supervision fee is a monthly charge for someone placed on probation; the report says it was $50 for administrative probation or $65 for supervised probation.

“When an individual is placed on probation, Section 87A of Chapter 276 of the Massachusetts General Laws requires courts to assess the individual a $50 (administrative) or $65 (supervised) monthly probation supervision fee (PSF).”