Fall River 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 Fall River District Court handled probation supervision fees and related community service from July 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.

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

The auditor reviewed whether the court properly assessed, recorded, monitored, and documented probation supervision fees and community service obligations.

“The objective of our work at each court location was limited to determining the extent to which the court was complying with the responsibilities established by Section 87A of Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as well as guidance issued by the Trial Court; the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP); and the court location itself, if it had issued any.”

If community service is not tracked well, the court may not know whether people have completed what they owe or whether court orders are being met on time.

“As a result, FDC cannot readily determine how many community-service hours are owed, what community service amounts to in dollars, and whether offenders will be able to fulfill the requirements of court orders on schedule.”

For residents, this matters because probation fees are public money, and poor tracking can weaken accountability for both payments and court-ordered community service.

“During the testing period, FDC collected and transmitted $920,009 of PSFs to the State Treasurer.”

The main problem was not that fees were assessed incorrectly; it was that community service hours were not being tracked and entered in a clear, timely, centralized way.

“The court does not effectively track community service performed by probationers.”

The auditor recommended that the court create a central tracking method, report community service hours regularly, and make entering those hours into MassCourts a priority.

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

The court sent the state about 53% of the estimated maximum probation-fee revenue after accounting for people assigned to community service, showing why accurate tracking matters.

“Taking into account the number of individuals required to perform community service, FDC’s actual transmittals were approximately 53% of the estimated potential PSF revenue.”

A probation supervision fee, or PSF, is a monthly fee that someone on probation may have to pay unless the court waives it and requires community service instead.

“A PSF is a monthly fee that judges are statutorily required to assess for a criminal offender placed on probation (a probationer), to be paid for the length of his or her probation term.”