Alabama Northern Probation and Pretrial Services - U.S. Probation Officer

Position Overview

U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services for the Northern District of Alabama, headquartered in Birmingham with divisional offices in Anniston, Huntsville, and Tuscaloosa, is accepting applications for a Sentencing Guideline Specialist. By statute, the probation/pretrial services officer (officer) serves in a judiciary law enforcement position, assists in the administration of justice and promotes community safety, gathers information, supervises offenders/defendants, interacts with collateral agencies, prepares reports, conducts investigations, and presents recommendations to the court. Officer specialists manage a caseload that includes a significant proportion of offenders/defendants of a specialized type and serve as local experts on cases of this type. The Sentencing Guideline Specialist serves as the district’s authority on presentence investigations and sentencing guidelines. Officer specialists must carry at least a 50 percent caseload, spending at least 50 percent of their time working with defendants and/or offenders. Officer specialists may guide the work of officer assistants and other staff. 

Representative Duties

• Perform investigative and supervision responsibilities for defendants/offenders in both general and specialized cases. Conduct investigations, prepare reports, and make recommendations for the court in general, high-risk, and/or specialized cases by interviewing offenders/defendants and their families and collecting background data from various sources. An integral part of this process is the interpretation and application of policies and procedures, statutes, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures, and may include U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Monographs, and relevant case law in the area of specialization.
• Serve as a resource and expert to the court, line officers, and staff in specialized cases. Guide, advise, train, and make recommendations to other officers, the court, and other individuals in cases involving area of specialization. Assist in developing policies and proposals to provide needed services. Train line officers on identification and treatment of offenders/defendants with special needs.
• Participate in on-going training and educational opportunities to further develop and/or enhance techniques and skills relating to investigation and supervision practices of offenders/defendants in area of specialization. Provide management and staff with ongoing updates related to changes with this offender/defendant population.
• Track developments in the law, and update staff and the court. Enforce court-ordered supervision components and implement supervision strategies. Maintain personal contact with defendants and offenders through office and community contacts and by telephone. Investigate employment, sources of income, lifestyle, and associates to assess risk and compliance. Address substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, and similar problems and implement the necessary treatment or violation proceedings, through assessment, monitoring, and counseling.
• Investigate and analyze financial documents and activities and take appropriate action. Interview victim(s) and provide victim impact statements to the court. Ensure compliance with Mandatory Victims Restitution Act. Responsible for enforcement of location monitoring conditions ordered by the court, and in some districts may perform location monitoring reintegration on behalf of the Bureau of Prisons.
• Analyze and resolve disputed issues involving offenders/defendants and present unresolved issues to the court for resolution. Assess offenders’/defendants’ level of risk and develop a blend of risk management strategies for controlling and correcting risk.
• Serve as district authority on sentencing and sentencing guidelines issues. Maintain current knowledge of case law and Sentencing Commission, Administrative Office, and local policies and procedures pertaining to sentencing. Maintain up-to-date district-wide resource materials relating to the sentencing process.
• Train district staff, law enforcement agencies, U.S. Attorney’s staff, and/or defense attorneys on sentencing guidelines and sentencing matters, including new developments in sentencing issues, guideline amendments, case law, etc.
• Serve as the lead with district presentence groups by conducting regularly scheduled meetings. Serve as the group’s representative to management and address any group issues of concern during management meetings.
• Complete presentence investigations for cases involving extremely complex issues and/or cases of unusual notoriety (e.g., white collar, organized crime, large conspiracy drug cases, and criminal organizations).
• Conduct the investigation on the lead and/or the “most culpable” defendant in multi-defendant cases and coordinate the preparation of the offense conduct section of the presentence reports in applicable cases. Coordinate the preparation of the victim impact portion of the presentence report in multi-defendant cases when assigned lead responsibilities in such cases.
• Serve as an expert in the use of Westlaw and Lexis and act as trainer for district staff in research procedures. Serve as district representative/liaison with Westlaw and Lexis.
• Serve as a consultant to presentence officers as problems arise during an investigation and/or preparation of a presentence report, in the absence of, or at the request of a Supervisory U.S. Probation Officer (SUSPO).
• Demonstrate and maintain proficiency in financial investigation techniques and assist other officers with these matters, as requested. Maintain resource materials for the district relating to financial investigations. Train district staff on financial matters.
• Serve as resource to SUSPOs by reviewing presentence reports and/or sentencing litany prepared by officers and make appropriate recommendations for addressing any performance review concerns.
• Update policy and procedures related to the investigation and preparation of presentence reports and provide related training to staff at least annually.
• Schedule and conduct drug use detection tests and DNA collection of offenders/defendants, following established procedures and protocols. Maintain paper and computerized records of test results. Maintain chain of custody of urinalysis testing materials. Respond to judicial officer’s request for information and advice. Testify in court as to the basis for factual findings and (if warranted) guideline applications. Serve as a resource to the court. Maintain detailed written records of case activity. May conduct surveillance and/or search and seizure at the direction of the court.
• Participate in the administrative planning of specialized caseloads. Provide advice, consultation, and program vision and direction and make proposals to the Chief U.S. Probation Officer.

Qualifications

All officer positions require completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a field of academic study which provides evidence of the capacity to understand and apply the legal requirements and human relations skills involved in the position.

In addition to meeting the education requirement, applicants must also have three years of specialized experience, including at least one year as a probation/pretrial services officer in the U.S. Courts. Specialized experience is progressively responsible experience, gained after completion of a bachelor’s degree, in such fields as probation, pretrial services, parole, corrections, criminal investigations, or work in substance/addiction treatment, public administration, human relations, social work, psychology, or mental health. Experience as a police, custodial, or security officer, other than criminal investigative experience, is not creditable.

Maximum Entry Age and Medical Requirements

Applicants age 37 or over, who have previous federal law enforcement experience in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), and who have either a subsequent break in service or intervening service in a non-law enforcement officer position, the maximum entry age is increased by adding the number of years of previous law enforcement experience to 37.

Officers must effectively deal with physical attacks and are subject to moderate to arduous physical exertion, applicants must be physically capable. The medical requirements and essential job functions derived from the medical guidelines for officers are available for public review at https://www.uscourts.gov under Officer and Officer Assistant Medical Requirements. 

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be a U.S. citizen.
• Work is performed in an office setting and, in the community, and may be subject to variable hours, including nights and weekends. Work requires regular contact with persons who have violent backgrounds. These contacts may be made in both generally controlled office settings as well as in field situations (such as uncontrolled and unsafe neighborhoods/environments where illegal activities and violence may occur). Travel is required.
• Prior to appointment, the selectee considered for this position will undergo a drug screening. Upon successful completion of the drug screening, the selectee may then be appointed provisionally, pending a favorable suitability determination by the court.
• In addition, as a condition of employment, incumbent will be subject to ongoing random drug screening, updated background investigations every five years and, as deemed necessary by management for reasonable cause, may be subject to subsequent fitness-for-duty evaluations.
• All court employees are EXCEPTED appointments. Federal Civil Service classifications and regulations do not apply.
• Employees are required to use Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) for direct deposit of pay.

Benefits

Federal benefits include paid vacation and sick leave, 11 holidays, health, life, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts for health and dependent care, periodic salary increases, retirement benefits, Thrift Savings Plan, etc. For more information about benefits, visit: https://www.uscourts.gov/careers/benefits.

How to Apply

To be considered for this position, applicants are required to provide the following:

• Letter of interest, outlining experience as it relates to this position;
• Current resume;
• Three professional references (name, address, and telephone number);
• Application for Judicial Branch Employment (Form AO-78);
• College transcript(s) (an unofficial copy is acceptable); and
• Signed copies of the two most recent performance evaluations (if not applicable, include an explanation in your letter of interest).

To submit your application:

1. Combine the documents above in order into single PDF,
2. Save the single document by your Last Name, First Name (i.e., Smith, Mary),
3. On the subject line of the email, enter 2026-02  Sentencing Guideline Specialist – Preferred duty station(s) (i.e., 2026-02 Sentencing Guideline Specialist – Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, 2026-02 Sentencing Guideline Specialist – All), ; and
4. Email the complete packet to resumes@alnp.uscourts.gov one time.

Multiple submissions will not be considered.  Applicants who do not follow instructions may not be considered. Due to the volume of applicants, we will only communicate with those individuals who are selected for an interview and only applicants who are interviewed will receive a response regarding their application status. Please no phone calls. Travel and relocation expenses are not reimbursable.

The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office reserves the right to modify the conditions of this announce, withdraw the announcement, fill the position at any time before the closing date, or fill more than one position from this announcement, any of which may occur without notice to applicants. If a subsequent vacancy of the same position becomes available within a reasonable time of the original announcement, the Chief U.S. Probation Officer may elect to select a candidate from the original qualified applicant pool.

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

This position is not covered under the Fair Chance to Compete (FCA) and requires you to complete the optional background information on the AO-78. The selectee for this position is subject to a criminal record check and satisfactory adjudication by the employing office to be eligible for employment. Due to the sensitivity level of this position, candidates may be asked about their criminal history prior to receiving a tentative offer of employment. Candidates completing the AO-78 must complete questions 18-20 regarding their criminal history. Criminal history is not in itself disqualifying. All available information, past and present, favorable and unfavorable, about the reliability and trustworthiness of an individual will be considered when making an employment suitability determination. Providing false and/or misleading information may be grounds for removal from the application and selection process, as well as disciplinary action if discovered after an individual’s date of hire.