Criminal

Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole

Intake Unit

The Intake Unit was established on November 1, 1993 and is located on the 7th floor of the Bucks County Courthouse. It is composed of six (6) probation officers, a secretary and a supervisor. The primary responsibility of the Unit is to conduct the initial interview with persons placed on county probation or parole from the Bucks County Court. The officers also interview most incoming out-of-county courtesy supervision cases (cases of people who have committed crimes in another county, but live in Bucks County). This initial interview is called an Intake Instruction. At the time of intake instruction, cases are directly input into the Department's existing automation system. As a result, the amount of time required to open a case and have it ready for assignment to a General Supervision PO has been dramatically reduced while also improving the overall quality of information received from clients and provided to clients at the point of the intake instruction.

Additionally, the Intake Unit is charged with the following responsibilities:

• Monitoring most ungraded misdemeander DUI cases
• Supervising Out-of-County problem cases (people convicted of crimes in Bucks County who live outside Bucks County)
• Conducting Out-of-County Pre-Parole Investigations
• Coordination of all Violation of Probation/Parole Hearings
• Bench Warrant hearings for probation and parole clients
• Parole Hearings on cases in which our department is recommending denial of parole at this time
• PFA (Protection From Abuse) hearings related to persons already on Probation or Parole
• Some Pre-Sentence Investigations
• Collection of all state-mandated DNA samples on probation/parole cases

FAQ's
1. What is the intake instruction interview?
Following being placed on county probation or immediately paroled from the bench an offender will meet with a Probation Officer. At that time the offender will be asked to provide background information necessary to open a probation/parole case. Also at that time the Probation Officer will review with the rules and regulations of probation/parole, along with any special conditions(s) imposed by the judge at the time of sentencing. After the rules and regulations have been reviewed the offender is asked to sign a copy, indicating that they understand the conditions, rules and regulations of their probation or parole supervision.

2. What are the "rules and regulations" of probation?
Simply put they are the do's and don'ts of probation. They are the rules and if appropriate, special conditions that a client will be required to abide by In order to successfully complete supervision. Some examples are:

• I will report to my Probation/Parole Officer as directed and permit this officer to visit me at my home or place of employment.
• I will not own, use, or possess any type of lethal weapons. Click here to review the Rules and Regulations of General Supervision .

3. If I am placed on probation in Philadelphia County, but live in Bucks County, will I have to report to Philadelphia to see my PO?
In most instances, your case would be transferred to Bucks County for courtesy supervision and you would be assigned a Bucks County PO.

4. If I am placed on probation/parole in Bucks County but want to reside in another state, will my case be transferred to that state?
Probation/parole cases may be conditionally transferred to another state for supervision; however, any such transfer of supervision is only conditional, pending that state agreeing to supervise the case. In many instances, you may not be able to proceed to the state that you wish until an investigation has been completed and permission is granted to reside in that state. Transfer of a case to another state becomes more difficult every day. Depending upon the state, the offense, your family's history of having lived in the state prior to your offense, as well as other factors determine the ability to make a transfer.

5. If my case is transferred from Bucks County to another county or state where will I pay my court costs/fines and fees?
Restitution, court costs/fines and fees are paid to the Bucks County Clerk of Courts - Criminal Division. Additional information on financial obligations can be found in the Financial section of Supervision Services on this website.

6. If my case is transferred to another county or state will I have to pay administration fees to both Bucks County and the jurisdiction that my case is transferred to?
You will only be responsible to pay administrative fees to the jurisdiction in which your case is being supervised.

7. If I am placed on probation/parole in another state, but live in Bucks County, Will my supervision be transferred to Bucks County?
If you reside in Bucks County and are convicted in another state, your case may be transferred to the:

Pennsylvania Board of Probation/Parole
1101 S. Front St.
Harrisburg, PA 17104-2538,
717-787-5699, ext.315

Probation /Parole cases from states outside Pennsylvania are processed by and if appropriate, supervised by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.