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Anne Martin, Director
716-858-8205
martina@erie.gov

The mission of the Erie County Probation Department is to provide community protection, offender accountability as well as timely and accurate information to the criminal and Family Court systems. Additional services provided to Family Court include screening and referral of domestic violence and incorrigible youth complaints.

These tasks are accomplished through the provision of comprehensive presentence investigations, the utilization of professional casework techniques and practices in order to monitor, rehabilitate and correct the behavior patterns of both adult and juvenile offenders.

What is Probation?

Probation is an alternative to incarceration that permits offenders to live and work in the community, support their families, receive rehabilitative services and make restitution to the victims of their crimes. It also addresses juvenile crime with early intervention for youth at risk.

The single most used criminal punishment in the United States today, probation is a judicial function governed by the courts that sentences defendants. When carefully administered and applied only to those who can safely be monitored in the community, it causes rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender into society, ultimately helping to reduce crime.

Why do we need Probation?

The unprecedented growth in the nation's prison population has placed a heavy economic burden on taxpayers in terms of the cost to build, maintain and operate prisons. According to the United States Justice Department over 2 million Americans are behind bars. This represents nearly six times as many inmates as we had in 1970.

Society must incarcerate serious and violent offenders who endanger the community. For nonviolent offenders, however, probation is a cost effective alternative that holds them accountable for their crimes.