By Ashley McCarty-
In this weeks edition of “Unsung Heroes,” we explore the undervalued role of a probation officer with Adams County Chief Adult and Juvenile Probation Officer Regina Hall.
Hall’s journey to becoming a probation officer began with her fascination for law.
“For a split second, I thought I wanted to do psychology. A couple quarters of that, and I decided that I didn’t really care why people did it, I was just going to try to help them once they did it. So, it kind of turned the table for me with that, but I love it. It’s always changing. Everyday we come in, everything’s changing. The laws change constantly, and we keep up with that, what we can do and what we can’t do. I’ve just always been fascinated with it,” said Hall.
Hall obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, and is now on her 25th year as a probation officer in the county. Requirements to become a probation officer have changed over time, she says.
“Being from a rural county, we do so many operations that are grant funded. We have two juvenile officers and five adult officers. There are various probation positions, such as adult and juvenile probation, intensive probation and misdemeanor probation. We have two officers that are funded through the state, through the Community Corrections Act Program, which is through the Department of Corrections. If we didn’t have grant money, we would have minimal capacity. Once you do grants, obviously, they have certain requirements to maintain. Two of my officers over there have a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, but we’ve also had them in education, social work, it all really falls in together,” said Hall.
Once hired as a probation officer, a 40-hour training course is required through the Supreme Court for new officers; then, it is a minimum 20 to 24 hours each year of training to maintain the certification. All officers attend the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy to become certified in handling a firearm. They also have annual qualifications for both firearms and tasers.
“Myself, as chief, I took the position, then I had a week-long training out of state that was completely funded. That was the best training that I’ve ever done. It was in Denver, Colorado in the winter time, but it was awesome training,” said Hall.
The role of a probation officer is to supervise individuals sentenced to probation, complete all investigations ordered by the court, and help each individual with specific needs. The Probation Department also performs drug screens before court sessions, while on probation, and during home visits.
“If we have somebody that is on probation that the one thing stopping them from moving forward is they don’t have an I.D or birth certificate, we have grant money, we’ll go get them, take them there, and pay for the documents. We have transportation, so we eliminated that excuse. We don’t take that anymore, because we’re here, we’re available, we’ll get you where you need to go. So, that’s been a big help, because there’s just nothing here. You can’t get around, you know. [We’re] involved in a lot of things,” said Hall.
Hall herself still keeps a caseload of around 50 felony offenders.
“They have all kinds of sanctions that they have to complete. We do that, but obviously our goals for the adults are to keep them from committing another crime, and trying to keep them drug free,” said Hall.
Individuals are monitored by the probation officer based on status.
“Now, the offenders that I have are required to report one time per month, but then I’m also in touch with outside agencies. They’re keeping us updated on what’s going on. If they are in treatment, if they are in schooling, or if they’re working community service, we’re tracking where they’re at and who they’re working for,” said Hall.
Almost every offender sentenced through Adams County Common Pleas Court has community service to fulfill.
When Hall began many years ago, the goal of the probation officer was to protect the public. The position evolved as drugs became more prevalent.
“It was minimal when I began, and then treatment became such a big part, so we focus more toward trying to help these people and do these things to deter them from prison,” said Hall.
The Probation Dept. does more than monitor offenders, however.
“Like I said, we do the community service program and we’re very excited about the upcoming Training Center in town. We do offer classes in house such as anger management classes and parenting classes,” said Hall.
They also do a movie night, Christmas on the Square, and administered school supplies to the community.
“Of course, COVID-19 has kind of hurt us this year, but we’re getting ready to do one Trick-or-Treat night. So, we’ll do Trick-or-Treat on the square, have a movie after Trick-or-Treat, and we’ll be doing some photos. Everything we can do, and practice social distancing, we’re going to try to do it,” said Hall.
Over the summer, the department has also been working with Church 180.
“We go on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to load groceries and take them to the other churches for distribution,” said Hall. Hall has also volunteered her time at Church 180 to help with pantry operations. The department plans to continue assisting Church 180 with these distributions.
The probation department also maintains the courthouse lawn with their community service members.
In addition, the probation department also works closely with local law enforcement and other agencies; they have participated in Shop With A Cop, conducted a kindness campaign at the local schools, and prepare an annual Christmas event with the youth at Wilson’s Children’s Home.
In her spare time, Hall enjoys riding her Harley motorcycles and going on road trips, which involves riding out west every year. Hall also enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.
“I have an awesome staff, they go above and beyond. They are knowledgeable, anything that you need, they will take care of it. If someone has a problem, then the department is going to try and help them with it. It may not be something we deal with, but we’re going to figure out what we can do to help them, and that’s always been really important to me, because that’s a pet peeve of my own. We may not solve their problem, but we’re going to make it okay, because that’s what we’re here to do. We are public servants, and anything that needs to be done, we do it. It all happens because of great staff who are passionate about what they do,” said Hall.
