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

This is a Massachusetts State Auditor report about how the Wareham District Court handled probation supervision fees and community service during an 18-month period.

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

The auditor was checking whether courts were properly recording, monitoring, and enforcing monthly 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 WDC, 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.”

If fees are waived without the required process, the state may lose money that some probationers could have paid.

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

For citizens, the issue is whether the court follows the law fairly and keeps clear records when deciding if someone must pay a fee or do community service instead.

“Specifically, it should make sure that it documents whether, based on court order, a probationer will pay a monthly PSF or whether a finding of fact has been held to allow the fee to be waived and community service performed instead.”

The audit found two main problems: fee waivers were not always handled as the law requires, and community service was not tracked efficiently enough.

“The Probation Office does not have a centralized method to effectively track hours of community service performed.”

The report recommends that the court follow the legal process for fees and waivers, create central tracking for community service, and report community service hours regularly in MassCourts.

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

This report points to a fairness and accountability problem: without clear records, the court cannot easily know who owes community service, how much it is worth, or whether people are on track to complete it.

“As a result, WDC 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.”

A probation supervision fee is a monthly charge that people on probation normally have to pay; if the court properly waives it because payment would be too hard, the person must do unpaid 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.”