Through Title 9 NYCRR Appendix H-10, Standard Specifications for Professional Probation Positions, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives (OPCA) ensures that individuals with the appropriate experience and qualifications enter, and are candidates for advancement within New York’s 58 probation departments. The revised version of Appendix H-10, which became effective on May 28, 2019, contains updated job specifications and revised qualifications for the various professional probation positions. As reflected in the General Group Staffing for Probation Positions attachment, that revision process also resulted in new groupings of New York’s probation departments. The new version replaced a prior, which was dated May 1, 1973.
Changing Times: 1973 vs 2019 Motor Trend Cars of the Year
The revised Appendix H-10 was developed through a process which lasted several years and included close partnership with the NYS Department of Civil Service, and with the extensive input of probation professionals from across the state. NYS Civil Service communicated updates to the local civil service agencies throughout the process. Further, in June 2017 OPCA and NYS Civil Service co-presented regarding the proposed changes to Appendix H-10 at the New York State Association of Personnel and Civil Service Officers conference in Corning, NY. In addition to these consensus building efforts, the revision process also included the typical formal period for public comment. As a duly promulgated regulation, Appendix H-10 has the force and effect of State law.
During my 18+ years with the Division of Criminal Justice Services – Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives, I served as the primary reviewer of the qualifications of candidates for appointment as a local Probation Director. Following, please find an overview of that process and related guidance based on my experience in this area. This content is provided for informational purposes only. Probation departments, local civil service agencies, and appointing authorities should further discuss these matters with their County Attorneys or other legal representatives as appropriate.
In anticipation of, or upon a Probation Director vacancy occurring, an assessment of which grouping the involved probation department falls into must occur. First, the “General Group Staffing for Probation Positions” table as found on the DCJS website, and pictured below should be consulted.
To determine a probation department’s grouping as found in the above table, the two critical considerations are the population of a given county (as reported in the US Census or other valid and reliable resource), as well as the department’s filled professional probation positions, as reported in the respective county’s most recent Annual Probation Plan or subsequent update as necessary.
Local civil service agencies/appointing authorities should provide notice to DCJS-OPCA of the intended appointment of a fully qualified candidate as Probation Director, along with a copy of the candidate’s resume and civil service history. The DCJS Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives will review and provide a response indicating whether or not the candidate appears to meet the qualifications for the position. Should the candidate meet the qualifications, DCJS OPCA will request that a copy of the county/city resolution appointing the individual as Probation Director be provided. For competitive class positions, the local civil service agency/appointing authority should also advise DCJS-OPCA as to whether the individual is being appointed from a valid civil service list, or provisionally pending an appropriate score on the required civil service exam.
Alternatively, if the candidate does not appear to meet the qualifications for the position, DCJS-OPCA will indicate such, and advise that recruitment for a fully qualified candidate must commence.
The primary expectation is that candidates for probation leadership positions have ascended through New York’s local probation system and the hierarchy of positions as found in Appendix H-10. However, some descriptions within Appendix H-10 include “or equivalent experience in a probation agency” phrasing. This language is not intended to approve candidates with non-qualifying official employment histories who may have performed out of title work, but rather to allow consideration of candidates with appropriate experience in Federal or Out of State probation offices/agencies.
Departments Serving Jurisdictions under 300.000
As indicated in the table above, Department Groups A & B are based solely on probation professional staffing levels. These staffing levels are determined by totaling all filled Probation Peace Officer items in an agency as found in Appendix H-10, excluding the Probation Director position itself. While found in Appendix H-10, the para-professional Probation Assistant title does not hold Peace Officer status and therefore is excluded from the aforementioned staffing total.
The Probation Director positions in jurisdictions with populations of fewer than 300,000 are to be filled competitively consistent with the requirements of NYS Executive Law §257 Probation personnel; qualifications and duties.
Importantly, experience as a Probation Supervisor is required to be a candidate for appointment as a Probation Director in groups A & B. Please refer to Appendix H-10 for the years of experience as a Probation Supervisor required to qualify an individual for appointment as a Probation Director in a Group A or B department. For many titles, Appendix H-10 contains both promotional and open competitive minimum qualifications. Should a jurisdiction wish to, or be required to consider outside candidates, the open competitive qualifications for a given title must be utilized. Typically, these open competitive qualifications require slightly greater experience than the promotional specifications.
Notably, some of the smallest probation departments in the state employ few to no Probation Supervisors. Accordingly, outside recruitment is then required in order to develop a pool of candidates with the requisite experience. If such outside recruitment efforts are unsuccessful, a county may apply to DCJS for a waiver to allow further recruitment (both internal and external) with a temporarily modified (reduced) required experience. The waiver process will be further discussed below.
Further, a department serving a jurisdiction with a population under 300,000 will be designated as a Group C agency if it employs fifty (50) or more professional probation positions.
Departments Serving Jurisdictions over 300.000
The revised Appendix H-10 reflects Executive Law §257(6)(a), which requires that in a county with a population of more than 300,000 the Probation Director and Deputy Director shall be non-competitive appointments as follows:
Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, the director of probation in counties with a population of more than three hundred thousand, except counties wholly contained within a city, shall be in the non-competitive class of civil service and shall be appointed by the county executive with the approval of the local governing body. There shall be one deputy director of probation, who shall be in the non-competitive class of civil service. Such deputy shall be appointed by the director of probation.
While the Probation Director and Deputy Director appointments in such counties are non-competitive, the candidates for these positions must meet the respective minimum qualifications as found in Title 9 NYCRR Appendix H-10. As noted above, Appendix H-10 contains both promotional and open competitive minimum qualifications. Since non-competitive appointments are considered new appointments, the qualifications found in the open competitive descriptions featuring greater levels of experience are used to evaluate candidates for such positions.
As indicated in the table above, a department serving a jurisdiction with a population greater than 300,000 and less than 400,000 is considered a Group C agency. Whereas, those departments serving jurisdictions with populations of 400,000 or more are designated as Group D agencies.
New York Counties with Populations of 300,000+
In regard to the New York City Department of Probation, it is important to note that NYS Executive Law§ 255 Probation in the city of New York establishes that the Director of that department is to be “appointed by the mayor of the city of New York to serve during the pleasure of the mayor.” Notably, Executive Law §255.3 includes:
The director shall discharge his powers and responsibilities in accordance with all laws and rules applicable to probation and with the general rules regulating methods and procedure in the administration of probation as adopted from time to time pursuant to section two hundred forty-three of this chapter.
Accordingly, as a duly promulgated DCJS regulation, Appendix H-10 is intended to apply to the NYC Department of Probation.
Non-Competitive Promotion pursuant to NYS Civil Service Law §52.7
The previously referenced, NYS Executive Law §257 Probation personnel; qualifications and duties offers,
Except as may be otherwise specified in other provisions of law, all salaried probation officers and their supervisors, including the director, of every probation department, agency or service maintained by any county or city shall be in the competitive class of the civil service.
The statutory exceptions to the requirement for probation positions to be in the competitive class are the non-competitive appointment of Probation Directors and Deputy Directors of Probation serving jurisdictions with populations greater than 300,000 pursuant to Executive Law §257(6)(a), and the mayoral appointment of the Director of the NYC Department of Probation consistent with Executive Law §255.
Otherwise, a civil service examination for the Probation Director position is required. However, NYS Civil Service Law §52.7 offers some further considerations as follows:
Promotion by non-competitive examination. Whenever there are no more than three persons eligible for examination for promotion to a vacant competitive class position, or whenever no more than three persons file application for examination for promotion to such position, the appointing officer may nominate one of such persons and such nominee, upon passing an examination appropriate to the duties and responsibilities of the position may be promoted, but no examination shall be required for such promotion where such nominee has already qualified in an examination appropriate to the duties and responsibilities of the position.
As such, written examination may not be necessary should there be three or fewer candidates who meet the qualifications for the position, or where three or fewer qualified candidates apply for such position. Local Civil Service agencies and appointing authorities are strongly encouraged to further discuss these provisions with the NYS Department of Civil Service as may be necessary.
Waiver
The titles and respective qualifications found in Appendix H-10 are those approved for use in probation departments across the state. As previously noted, as a duly promulgated regulation, Appendix H-10 has the force and effect of state law. Accordingly, any proposed departure from such requires application to the Division of Criminal Justice Services for a waiver.
Title 9 NYCRR Part 360 “Waivers”, authorizes the DCJS Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives to consider requests for waivers as follows:
§360.1. A local jurisdiction may apply to the State Director for a waiver of any provision of these rules. Such application shall be in writing and specify how granting the waiver would improve probation practice in the jurisdiction or relieve it of an undue burden.
Consistent with the topic of this guidance, the most common waiver requests received by DCJS-OPCA are those related to the required experience/qualifications for the position of Probation Director. It is not uncommon for a Probation Director, Deputy Director, and other department leaders to have similar years of service, resulting in retirements proximate to each other. This may result in no/few internal candidates meeting the minimum qualifications for the Probation Director position.
In such situations, jurisdictions should conduct an external recruitment campaign in order to identify a pool of fully qualified candidates. In addition to posting a Probation Director vacancy on their own county/City websites, localities commonly utilize online job sites such as Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn. However, given the specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities required of the position, localities are encouraged to share Probation Director vacancy postings with the following organizations:
- NYS Council of Probation Administrators
- NYS Probation Officers Association
- Evolve Justice, LLC (we will share vacancy announcements on this website and associated social media)
- American Probation and Parole Association
- National Association of Probation Executives
Should this recruitment campaign not produce a suitable pool of fully qualified candidates, the appointing authority can then proceed to submit a request for a waiver to DCJS, which would allow for temporarily modified (reduced) qualifications, which would allow for expanded recruitment – both internally and externally.
It is recommended that a waiver request for this purpose include the following information:
• The anticipated date on which the Probation Director position will become vacant,
• The name, title, and contact information of the staff member who will be leading the probation department until the Probation Director position is filled. In this circumstance, a waiver is being requested due to a lack of fully qualified internal candidates. Nonetheless, while the search for a fully qualified candidate is undertaken, the temporarily designated Probation Director should be a staff member who approaches the full qualifications.
• The name, title, and contact information from the local civil service office/appointing authority who will be DCJS’ point of contact regarding the waiver request,
• A brief description of the reasons why a waiver is requested (i.e. the department does not employ any fully qualified candidates, the department does employ fully qualified candidates, but they have documented that they are not interested in being considered for the Director position, etc.).
• A summary of external recruitment efforts undertaken, which were unsuccessful in identifying a fully qualified candidate for appointment,
• The requested modified experience as proposed by the local civil service agency/appointing authority, and
• Any additional information which the local civil service agency/appointing authority may find helpful in considering the request for waiver.
Importantly, waivers granting temporary modification to the qualifications found in Appendix H-10 are not granted for a specific person, but rather to allow a county to consider all candidates who meet such temporarily modified experience and qualifications.
When a request for an H-10 related waiver is received by DCJS, the appropriate offices will discuss internally, and then share a draft reply with the NYS Department of Civil Service for their review and response. DCJS will consider any recommendations from NYS Civil Service in drafting a response to the local civil service agency/appointing authority.
The DCJS Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives will then provide a written response to the requesting local civil service agency/appointing authority, with copies to the appropriate DCJS offices, NYS Civil Service, and others as necessary.
Any H-10 related waiver granted by DCJS is in effect for the current vacancy only. Future vacancies will again require an attempt to fill the position with a fully qualified candidate. Should those efforts be unsuccessful, re-application for waiver will have to be pursued.
Importantly, localities are strongly encouraged to utilize all titles through which staff can gain the requisite experience to ascend to the leadership positions within a probation department. Doing so will help ensure that there are sufficient internal candidates with the necessary experience to ascend to the highest leadership positions within an agency.
Further Guidance
Evolve Justice is available to provide consultation to local civil service agencies/appointing authorities in the search for and selection of candidates for appointment as Probation Directors. Please utilize the CONTACT form on this website to reach out to us for further discussion as necessary.