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This question is about what a parole officer does, what a probation officer does, and parole officer.
Parole Officer vs. Probation Officer
A parole officer supervises individuals who have been convicted of a crime and have served time in prison and who have been granted parole before the end of their actual sentence, while a probation officer supervises individuals who have been convicted of a crime but were sentenced to probation rather than jail time.
A parole officer executes their authority under the parole board for their state. Parolees are usually required to abide by certain guidelines and failure to comply can result in a return to incarceration. It is the job of the parole officer to supervise their offenders and ensure they meet the requirements set by the court.
A probation officer may have offenders who are sentenced to active supervision and require regular reporting or others who have inactive supervision status and do not require regular reporting. The overall job of the probation officer is to ensure that their offenders are in compliance with the terms of their probation.
There is a lot of overlap in the duties of a parole officer and a probation officer. However, there are some differences in when their jobs occur and their caseload.
Here are the key differences between a parole officer and a probation officer:
A parole officer receives offenders after they have gone to prison and have served part of their sentence
A probation officer receives offenders that have been given probation instead of jail time
A parole officer usually has a smaller caseload as all of their offenders are on active status
A probation officer may have a larger caseload as not all of their offenders will require active monitoring
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