Title 18Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73

§3602 Appointment of probation officers

Title 18 › Part PART II— - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter CHAPTER 229— - POSTSENTENCE ADMINISTRATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER A— - PROBATION › § 3602

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A U.S. district court must appoint qualified probation officers, paid or unpaid. An officer may serve in another district only if both courts agree. The court may remove paid officers for cause and unpaid ones at will. Appointments must be recorded, with copies to the officer and to the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. If there are multiple officers, one may be named chief.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §3602

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A district court of the United States shall appoint qualified persons to serve, with or without compensation, as probation officers within the jurisdiction and under the direction of the court making the appointment. A person appointed as a probation officer in one district may serve in another district with the consent of the appointing court and the court in the other district. The appointing court may, for cause, remove a probation officer appointed to serve with compensation, and may, in its discretion, remove a probation officer appointed to serve without compensation.
(b)The order of appointment shall be entered on the records of the court, a copy of the order shall be delivered to the officer appointed, and a copy shall be sent to the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
(c)If the court appoints more than one probation officer, one may be designated by the court as chief probation officer and shall direct the work of all probation officers serving in the judicial district.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–113 inserted “A person appointed as a probation officer in one district may serve in another district with the consent of the appointing court and the court in the other district.” after first sentence and “appointing” before “court may, for cause, remove”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Nov. 1, 1987, and applicable only to offenses committed after the taking effect of this section, see section 235(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3551 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 3602

Title 18Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73