Probation: Private

John Augustus

In 1841, John Augustus, a Boston cobbler, convinced a judge to give him custody of a convicted drunkard, who otherwise would have been imprisoned. The judge agreed, as long as a fine was paid. The offender was to return in three weeks for an evaluation of his progress. Augustus found the drunkard a job, and, after three weeks, the two returned to court. The judge was surprised to see the man sober and respectable. Impressed, the judge allowed Augustus to continue taking offenders into his custody. Over many years, Augustus took in more than one thousand offenders, the vast majority of whom never returned to court. Thus did the United States find its first probation officer. Augustus's method would later be adopted formally by Massachusetts, and probation soon became a standard alternative to incarceration across the United States.

Thus, American probation began in the private sector. Crucially, however, Augustus offered volunteer service. Much of the contemporary private probation landscape is, in contrast, a profitable community corrections industry.

Recent History

In 1975, Florida became the first state to institute private probation, allowing the Salvation Army and other approved groups to supervise low-level offenders. About 10 states now contract probation to private companies. Private probation can take the form of a for-profit private probation agency or a nonprofit community-based private treatment provider. Private probation agencies usually model their practices after the bail bond system. Probationers would post a bond as insurance for their good behavior. Meeting probation conditions, such as attending court on a [Page 338]certain date, means that the probationer regains the bond. Failure to meet probation conditions means the probationer loses the bond. Most private probation agencies tend to specialize in certain kinds of offenses in an attempt to reduce their overall caseload.

Advocates of private probation point out the need to overcome the shortcomings of the state and federal probation systems. Case overload means, on one hand, that violations of probation conditions are often overlooked, or, on the other hand, that social factors leading to minor violations are left unad-dressed and probationers are sent back to prison unnecessarily. Proponents of privatization argue that by requiring probationers to post a bond in guarantee of good behavior, probationers have an incentive to comply with the terms of probation, while incurring no cost to taxpayers. Moreover, the specialization of private probation agencies means that the services provided can be more attuned to probationers' needs and may often be of superior quality to comparable public services. Specialized private probation agencies can also maintain a lower caseload than the more generalized public model. Finally, advocates point out that private probation is not always for profit and is often in the hands of community organizations whose primary motivation is not profit but social good. Such organizations may be more likely than the state to meet a community's needs.

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