Risk Reduction Probation Officer

Posted Monday, June 22, 2026 at 4:00 AM | Expires Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 3:59 AM

The Franklin County Municipal Court is the largest and busiest municipal court in the State of Ohio. The Court has fourteen judges in the General Division and one judge in the Environmental Division. Judges preside over civil, criminal, and traffic cases and conduct both jury and court trials. The Court’s jurisdiction includes traffic cases, misdemeanor criminal cases, and civil cases where the amount at issue is $15,000 or less.

The Environmental Division has exclusive jurisdiction to enforce local codes and regulations affecting real property, such as fire and building codes. The geographic jurisdiction of the Court is all of Franklin County and those portions of the City of Columbus that extend beyond the boundaries of Franklin County. Despite its jurisdiction and name, the Franklin County Municipal Court is the judicial branch of the City of Columbus government.

The Pretrial and Probation Services Department consists of approximately 120 employees. The mission of Pretrial Services is to promote community safety and pretrial success through research-informed recommendations and supervision services that maximize court appearance, remove barriers to fair and efficient justice, and promote harm reduction. The mission of Probation Services is to promote community safety by reducing recidivism, changing offender behavior, and fostering accountability through the effective use of evidence-based practices.

Department functions include pretrial, investigation, and supervision services. Supervision structures are determined by risk and need and include all types of cases referred by the Court's judges. The staff operates specialized caseloads, including domestic violence, sexual offenses, soliciting, mental health, work release, and electronic monitoring. The probation staff strives to stay current and relevant with the ongoing goal of being an evidence-based organization.

A Risk Reduction Probation Officer is under the general direction of a Chief Probation Officer and the immediate direction of a Probation Officer Supervisor. A Risk Reduction Probation Officer’s primary responsibilities are to investigate, interview, assess, case plan, provide interventions, and manage a defendant’s compliance with court orders and required programming to promote public safety and reduce recidivism. Probation officers routinely communicate a defendant’s supervision compliance with the assigned judge and work closely with criminal justice partners and community resources.

• Promote, model, and abide by the Vision, Mission, policies, and procedures of the Probation Department
• Administration of the Ohio Risk Assessment System and other identified assessment tools to ensure appropriate supervision placement, intervention, and programming.
• Develop an appropriate supervision plan that addresses the court's requirements and the defendant's assessed and identified needs.
• Supervise and support defendants through the behavior-change process, skills, and goal attainment, and compliance with court-ordered conditions of supervision, which include teaching new skills, role-playing with defendants, and applying motivational interviewing skills.
• Perform field work as needed; notify the Court of defendant compliance with supervision requirements; conduct arrests when necessary; and attend court hearings when required.
• Conduct investigations for the Court and prepare written reports to assist judges in determining appropriate sentences, release conditions, or the sealing of criminal offense records, as assigned.
• Complete thorough, well-written reports detailing an individual’s supervision progress and including thoughtful and informed recommendations.
• Supervise specialized caseloads consisting of environmental compliance issues; defendants convicted of domestic violence or related charges; substance-using defendants; defendants with mental-health or developmental disability considerations; defendants convicted of sex offenses; defendants ordered…