COMMUNITY SERVICE

Consider the following:

–A work crew spends a week in a national forest,

clearing trails and constructing campsites. 

–A college student cares for and feeds autistic and

wheelchair-bound children at a school for the

disabled.

–A construction company builds a dike in a state

wildlife refuge that has been ravaged by floods. 

–A homemaker delivers meals to senior citizens

and shut-ins at home.

–A heavy equipment operator grades roads, plows

snow, and bulldozes sanitary landfill on an Indian

reservation. 

–Employees of a software design company teach

computer skills to middle school students in a low

income neighborhood. 

None of them gets paid. They are neither

volunteers, Good Samaritans, nor community

activists. They are people--and

businesses–convicted of crimes and ordered by the

court to perform community service.

What is community service? Community service is

unpaid work by an offender for a civic or nonprofit

organization. Public libraries, soup kitchens,

recycling centers, literacy programs, conservation

programs, and senior citizen centers all are likely

recipients of community service. 

In the federal courts, community service is not a

sentence, but a special condition of probation or

supervised release. In preparing a presentence

report, which the court relies on in choosing a fair

sentence, the probation officer may recommend that

the court require community service. In fiscal year

2002, more than 5,500 new cases received for postconviction supervision were given a condition to

perform community service. 

The court requires that the offender complete a

specified number of hours of community service

(usually from 100 to 500) within a given time frame

(usually not to exceed one year). For corporations--

and sometimes for individuals--the court may

designate a particular task to be completed rather

than a certain number of hours to be worked. 

Businesses may be required to donate their

employees’ time and skills to community service

projects. 

Community service addresses the traditional

sentencing goals of punishment, reparation,

restitution, and rehabilitation:

•Punishment - Community service adds a punitive

measure to probation. It restricts offenders’

personal liberty and requires them to forfeit their

leisure time.

•Reparation - Community service allows offenders

to atone or “make the victim whole” in a constructive

way. 

•Restitution - Community service may be regarded

as a substitute for financial compensation to

individual victims or a form of symbolic restitution

when the community is the victim. 

•Rehabilitation - Community service fosters a

sense of social responsibility in offenders and

allows them to improve their self-image through

serving the community. It also instills a work ethic

and helps offenders develop interests and skills. 

With a careful selection process, courts can use

community service successfully with a wide

spectrum of offenders: corporations and individuals,

first offenders and recidivists, the indigent and the

affluent, juveniles and senior citizens. But not every

offender is a good candidate for community service. 

Persons who present a threat to the community are

not eligible to participate. These include individuals

with a current drug or alcohol addiction, a history of 

assault or sexual offenses, or serious emotional or
psychological problems. Courts look for offenders

with personal and social stability, who are willing

and motivated, and who have no criminal history of

violence. 

Probation officers play a vital role in making

community service work. They work closely with the

community organizations in which offenders are

placed and with the offenders themselves. Officers

promote the concept of community service, seeking

agencies that are willing to take on offenders,

supervise them adequately, and provide them with

sufficient and suitable work. The agencies must be

nonprofit, tax exempt, and not politically partisan. 

They must serve a valid need in the community. 

Officers make certain that agencies know how

community service works and what it requires of

them. 

The officer’s task is to assign to the community

agency a responsible individual who can provide

valuable services. In matching the offender to the 

agency, the officer’s top consideration is the court’s

sentencing objective (Is the community service

intended primarily to be a punishment? Or is the

goal more to help the offender develop job skills?). 

Then the officer considers the offender’s interests

and abilities, as well as any potential stumbling

blocks, such as a conflict with the offender’s work

schedule, child care problems, or a lack of

transportation. 

The officer meets with the offender and the agency

to discuss expectations, confirm the work schedule

and duties, and answer questions. The officer

periodically visits the agency to monitor the

offender’s service and also resolves any problems. 

The officer also informs the court of the offender’s

progress–or lack of it.

Success depends on the offender’s ability to accept

the community service obligation and see it through. 

Sometimes, though, offenders do not comply with

their community service order. If an offender is often

late or absent, performs unsatisfactorily, or behaves

unacceptably, the officer will take action. The

offender may face sanctions ranging from

reprimand to revocation.

 As the chart on this page shows, community service 

brings benefits to the offender, the community, the

victim, and the court. Community service offers a

way for the offender to repay or restore the

community. It is a flexible, personalized, and

humane sanction. Community service is practical,

cost-effective, and fair–a “win-win” proposition for

everyone involved.

Community service

gives OFFENDERS - 

#A sanction that is less

restrictive than prison.

#A sanction that allows

them to meet their job and

family commitments.

#The chance to give

something back to society

and to help others.

#An opportunity to get

work experience, job

skills, and references.

#A boost to their selfesteem.

Community service

gives THE COMMUNITY-

#Free labor.

#Services that oftentimes

would not be available

because of lack of

funding.

#Saved taxpayer dollars

that would otherwise go

for prison costs.

#The chance to

participate in the

correctional process.

#An opportunity to

change negative

perceptions about

offenders.

Community service

gives VICTIMS - 

#A sanction that makes

tangible demands of

offenders. 

#The satisfaction of

knowing that offenders

did not evade

responsibility for their

crimes. 

Community service

gives THE COURTS - 

#A fair and costeffective sanction. 

#A sentencing alternative

that serves sentencing

goals.

Office of Probation and Pretrial Services

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

 January 2003