In addition to providing supervision, another primary responsibility of probation agents is to conduct pre-sentence investigations (PSI). PSI reports are required by statute for all felony convictions and are used by judges when sentencing an offender.
PSI reports include an agent's evaluation of the offender, the circumstances of the offense, a personal and criminal history of the offender and a sentencing recommendation. Victims also have an opportunity to provide information on what impact the crime has had on their lives and may express their opinions regarding the appropriate sentence.
Agents are required to use the department's PSI recommendation guidelines to arrive at a sentence recommendation. The guidelines, developed as an adjunct to the legislative sentencing guidelines, ensure that agent sentence recommendations are logical and consistent, and consider cost-effective community sentencing alternatives, when appropriate.