Probation officer jobs in Montana - 3 jobs

This first review of applications will be Monday January 5th, 2026. This position will be open until filled. Please submit the following required documents on the State of Montana Careers website: * Resume - Please include dates of employment and your supervisor's name/phone number for each position. * Cover Letter * Three Professional References When submitting the required documents, you must check the "relevant document" box to ensure your attachments are uploading correctly to the specific application for this position. Documents not requested will not be considered in the recruitment process. The Judicial Branch is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. An employee new to the Judicial Branch will serve a one-year probationary period. The successful applicant will be subject to a criminal background check, including the Child Protection Services registry. Travel may be required and working hours may include evenings & weekends. The Montana Judicial Branch offers a variety of opportunities to help you make a difference in your community, and further your career. As a service-oriented employer, we seek employees with a passion for customer service to help us fulfill our mission to provide an independent, accessible, responsive, impartial, and timely forum to resolve disputes; to preserve the rule of law; and to protect the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and Montana. Benefits of working for the Judicial Branch: * Work/life balance * Family friendly policies * Dedicated and caring colleagues * Health coverage * Retirement plans * Paid vacation, sick leave, and Holidays (combination of up to 38 per year) * Opportunities and room for professional growth * Public Service Loan Forgiveness - Employment with the State of Montana may qualify you to receive student loan forgiveness under the PSLF Job Overview: This is professional human services and social work involving the direction, supervision, and guidance of juveniles on probation and/or in placement outside the home. Work includes working with juveniles, their families, school staff, and representatives from social service and law enforcement agencies to preserve the unity and welfare of the family; provide for the care, protection and wholesome mental and physical development of the juvenile; prevent and reduce juvenile delinquency and/or chemical dependency through a system that provides supervision, care, rehabilitation, treatment, detention, competency development, and community protection for the juvenile to avoid the juvenile becoming an adult offender; and ensure that juvenile pay restitution to victims as ordered by the court. A position may be assigned duties in a specialized area such as a youth drug court program or restitution. Decisions made in the course of work can have profound effects on the juvenile and family and include imposing limits on curfew and peer associations; arranging for counseling, evaluations, and academic support; arranging for family-based counseling services; or removing youth from a situation or circumstances not in their best interest. Initially, work is performed under the close supervision of a chief probation officer or more experienced juvenile probation officer. Once experience is gained, work is performed with considerable independent judgment, discretion, and decision making. Work is evaluated by a chief probation officer for conformance with the Montana Youth Court Act through discussions, review of case reports, and an annual evaluation. Job Duties: * Evaluates case, police, and arrest reports to make initial determination of the validity of criminal charges and makes appropriate referrals to the county attorney's office; conducts intake hearings on youth who have violated the law and forwards appropriate cases to the county attorney for prosecution. * Makes initial assessment of youth to determine risk level, mental health, and chemical dependency problems; interviews youth, families, victims, school personnel, professional service providers and others to gather factual and social information; assesses information and recommends appropriate placements and/or treatments in the best interest of the youth. * Completes timely and accurate reports to the court including findings, recommendations, and justifications for recommendations, considerations of community protection, accountability and building competency for youth as well as victim impact implications; testifies in court. * Meets regularly with assigned youth to provide counseling, setting goals, acquiring education, developing life skills, and complying with their probation conditions or treatment programs; maintains contact with parents, including home visits, to coordinate implementation of case plans. Develops appropriate case plans based on initial assessment of youth and their family. * Gathers information, prepares reports, and makes presentations before the youth placement committee after formal court adjudication and prior to formal disposition and placement. * Supervises assigned youth who are on formal or informal probation and monitors compliance with probation conditions including school, employment, counseling, community service, and restitution. * Provides crisis intervention services, including making referrals and facilitating placement while families work out problems. * May serve as a member of an internal or community committee to assist in the development of policy or provide recommendations to the chief probation officer on the development of new or enhanced programs. * May function in a specialized area such as a youth drug court or restitution program. Working Conditions: * The work is performed primarily in an office environment and involves exposure to normal, everyday risks which require normal safety precautions typical of offices. Employees may be exposed to violent or non-compliant youth or family members and be on-call for work evenings and on weekends. Latex gloves are worn when obtaining urine samples. Physical Demands: * This position requires activities such as sitting for long periods, standing, bending, stooping, reaching, climbing stairs, lifting, moving, and carrying light to medium objects, operating office equipment. Work may also require driving for long periods in a variety of weather conditions. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (Behaviors): * Knowledge of the principles of youth probation work and related court procedures. * Knowledge of child and adolescent development and behavior and family dynamics. * Some knowledge of community resources available to youth and their families. * Ability to persuade assigned youth and their families to work for positive behavioral changes. * Ability to prepare accurate and reliable reports containing findings, conclusions, recommendations, and justifications. * Ability to accurately document contacts/observations. * Ability to read, understand, and effectively apply the provisions of the Montana Youth Court Act and Interstate Compact to juveniles. * Ability to organize time and effectively manage workload. * Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the youth and their families, school personnel, chief probation officer and probation staff, judges, private and public human service agencies, professional groups, and the public. * Ability to maintain the confidentiality of information. * Ability to work effectively as a member of a team. * Ability to be perceptive, versatile, flexible yet firm and matter of fact when necessary. * Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing. * Ability to deal with upset, angry, and emotionally charged people and resolving conflicts. * Skill in the operation of a personal computer with word processing applications. Minimum Qualifications (Education and Experience): * A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in the behavioral sciences, Human Services or Criminal Justice is required. * One-year of experience in law enforcement, criminal justice, youth services, or social services is required. * Possession of or ability to obtain a valid Montana driver's license; proof of insurance if using a personal vehicle on State business.

PROBATION & PAROLE OFFICER PROBATION & PAROLE LIBBY, MT The Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) is creating a safer Montana through Accountability, Rehabilitation and Empowerment. If you want to work making positive changes in your community, the Montana Department of Corrections is the place for you! The Public Safety Division operates Montana's prisons safely and securely and provides supervision and support for offenders in the community through its Probation and Parole Bureau. The work performed in this division is integral to the department's mission to create a safer Montana through accountability, rehabilitation, and empowerment. Make a difference! Join us today! The Probation and Parole Officer position, guided by the Department of Corrections (DOC) mission, plays a central role in managing the correctional population, promoting public safety and encouraging offenders to make positive life changing decisions for their future. * The officer cooperates with, and solicits information from, the public and criminal justice system and supervises and counsels 80-100 offenders. * Must have skills and abilities to equally balance social work and law enforcement duties. * The officer conducts pre-sentence investigations and makes placement recommendations concerning those offenders sentenced to DOC. These investigations are completed with cooperation from other criminal justices' agencies and by using investigative skills; knowledge of laws, rules and regulations pertaining to probation, parole, incarceration, rehabilitation and treatment programs, as well as knowledge of behavioral science. * The officer then makes recommendations for rehabilitation, treatment plans, conditions of probation, the need for incarceration, and appropriate level (i.e. local jail or Montana State Prison) to the District Court and Parole Board through a written pre-sentence investigation report. * Officers refer offenders to appropriate resources or programs using departments supervision standards, a risk and needs assessment as well as knowledge of state and community resources and monitors the progress of the client for compliance. * Officers investigate alleged violations of probation or parole using knowledge of policies & procedures pertaining to violations, search warrants & investigations. * Officers arrest and detain violators and testify in district court and information hearings relative to sentencing or revocation of client's probation or parole status. * Officers are trained to handle situations if probation & parole offenders or inmates become hostile & pose a physical threat. This requires the use of Oleoresin Capsicum "O.C. Spray" and firearms and carrying handcuffs. * Work is of the nature that Officers may work varying schedules to include nights and week-end hours and that the Officer may be called back to work at any hour of the day or night and be available 24/7 when called upon to assist any Department of Corrections Facility or Law Enforcement Agency. The Officer needs to physically make an arrest, defend selves, in high-risk volatile scenarios in and away from the office. * Travel for job may be required up to 10% of the time in addition to travel for training. QUALIFICATIONS Probation and parole officers must have at least a college degree in a related field such as criminology, psychology, social work, sociology, or guidance and counseling and some formal training in behavioral sciences. Exceptions to this rule must be approved by the department. Related work experience in the areas listed in subsection (1)(b) may be substituted for educational requirements at the rate of 1 year of experience for 9 months formal education if approved by the department. All present employees are exempt from this requirement but are encouraged to further their education at the earliest opportunity. (b) Work experience that may be substituted for the educational requirements in subsection (1)(a) includes experience in the areas of corrections/detention, criminology, education, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, law, law enforcement, social work, sociology, psychiatric nursing, or guidance and counseling. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER INFORMATION This position requires POST Basic Certification after attending training at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and successfully completing one year of employment with the Department of Corrections. In addition to the training and experience requirements, to be POST Certified, the successful candidate(s) must: * Be a citizen of the United States of America; * Be at least 18 years of age; * Be fingerprinted for a criminal history search; * Not have been convicted of a crime for which s/he could have been imprisoned in a federal or state penitentiary; * Be of good moral character, as determined by a thorough background screen; * Be a high school graduate or issued a GED or its equivalent; AND, * Possess or be eligible for a valid Montana driver's license. REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS * Cover Letter * Resume * State of Montana Application Applications missing required documentation will not be considered. Materials submitted but not requested will not be considered in the selection process, please make sure all attachments are marked as RELEVANT If another department vacancy occurs in this job title within six months, the same applicant pool may be used for the selection. Background screens which may include criminal records check, child/patient/offender abuse registries, and reference checks will be conducted for this position. BENEFITS Your service is rewarded with competitive compensation and generous State of Montana Benefits. State of Montana employment may qualify for student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. NOTICES Brady Act & Lautenberg Amendment - Any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or is the subject of a court order of protection for "an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner" cannot lawfully possess a firearm or ammunition (Title 18, U.S.C., Section 922(g)(91)). Candidates who have been convicted of any felony or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or were issued a court order of protection are not qualified for this position. Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 - Any person who has 1) engaged in sexual abuse in a prison, jail, lockup, community confinement facility, juvenile facility, or other institution; 2) been convicted of engaging in or attempting to engage in sexual activity in the community facilitated by force, overt or implied threats of force, or coercion, or if the victim did not consent or was unable to consent or refuse; or 3) been civilly or administratively adjudicated to have engaged in activity as described in the latter, are not qualified for this position. Tobacco Free - The use of all tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco products and tobacco substitutes is prohibited in Department of Corrections buildings. In secure care facilities possession of tobacco products is prohibited.