History Appendix G: Assn Response in Kansas City Times 1965APPENDIX G
The Kansas City Times
Wednesday, September 29, 1965
OPPOSE A SHIFT IN PROBATION SERVICE
Federal Officers Believe They Should Continue Under Courts Jurisdiction
NOT A PROSECUTION JOB
Association President Says Little of Work is With Justice Department
The president of the Federal Probation Officers Association said here yesterday the group opposes any unification of the officers' activities with the Department of Justice. "To make us a branch of the Justice Department would be to associate us with the prosecution branch of the government," Albert Wahl, organization president, said. He is Chief Federal Probation Officer for the Northern District of California. IN EXECUTIVE MEETING HERE
Wahl was here for a meeting at the U. S. courthouse of the Association's executive board, composed of 10 representatives from six regions. He said the group had criticized a comment attributed to the Department of Justice in which it was suggested the probation officers should be brought under the department's jurisdiction. The officers are now a part of the federal courts system. In support of the group's position on the question, Wahl pointed out that 75 percent of a probation officer's work concerns presentence investigations and supervision of defendants placed on probation -- all under the immediate supervision of the courts.
WORK WITH PAROLEES
Only 25 percent of the work -- supervision of person paroled from prison -- is under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department, he added. He said the eighth Judicial Circuit, which includes Missouri, is opposed to the unification. Generally speaking, Wahl continued, all courts are opposed to having probation offices taken over by the Department of Justice.
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