Traditionally performed by state agencies or local law enforcement, probation supervision for misdemeanors and criminal traffic cases has in many states increasingly been outsourced to for-profit, private companies. One goal of probation supervision is to ensure that an individual does not commit further offenses, while also providing rehabilitative services. Probation is a criminal sentence in lieu of jail time and is widely employed as an alternative to incarceration in the United States. Rodriguez’s experience with private probation is not unique. There were times didn’t eat, because I had to make payments to probation.” The consequences of her time on probation are still haunting Rodriguez: “No matter what I do, I can’t get back up.” I lost my apartment, and it's been a struggle ever since…. If I didn't make the payments, they were going to put me in jail.
I ended up selling my van, because I was threatened all the time. She told Human Rights Watch: “I struggled to pay them the payments they needed every week. You'll violate again.’ That's how they treat you.”įeeling the financial pressure of probation, backed by the threat of jail time, Rodriguez was spending far too much of her $753 monthly disability check on probation instead of basic necessities. That's what the police officer said, ‘I'll see you next time. Then told me I could go home, they'd see me next time. They took a mug shot of me, fingerprinted me, and treated me like I was garbage for about two and a half hours. Rodriguez turned herself in, saying it was “the most humiliating thing I’ve ever had to do in my whole life…. On one visit when she did not have the money to make a payment, her probation officer told her that she would “violate” her and that she would go to jail, which is what happened. The costs of probation ruined her life.Įvery time Rodriguez went to PCC to visit her probation officer, she was pressured to make payments. PCC also conducted random drug tests, though she was not charged with a drug-related offense, for which she would pay approximately $20 a test. She owed the court US$578 for the fine and associated fees, and on top of that she would have to pay PCC a $35-45 monthly supervision fee. When she informed the judge about her stark financial situation and disability payments, he told her to do the best that she could. Rodriguez’s lawyer told her probation was nothing to worry about, that she would just have to visit her probation officer once a week and pay her fees and fines. (PCC), a private company that had contracted with the Rutherford County government to supervise misdemeanor probationers. Rodriguez was placed on probation for 11 months and 29 days under the supervision of Providence Community Corrections, Inc.
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