fgdfgdfgdfgdfsIntroIntro Page 1 of 2 Probation and Parole ©2012 Argosy University Online Programs The Evolution of the Federal Probation System The following timeline highlights key historical events related to the federal probation system. 1925 President Calvin Coolidge signs the Probation Act of 1925, establishing probation as a sentence in the federal courts. 1927 The first federal probation officer, Richard McSweeney, is appointed in the District of Massachusetts. 1930 Congress creates the National Parole Board and amends the Probation Act to give the responsibility of supervising federal parolees to officers. 1937 The first issue of the scholarly journal Federal Probation is published. 1943 The first policy monograph, The Presentence Investigation Report, tells officers how to conduct presentence investigations and prepare reports. 1946 Officers take on the duty of investigating the parole plans of Army and Air Force prisoners and supervising them following their release from disciplinary barracks. 1950 A national training center is established in Chicago to provide officers with orientation and refresher training. 1955 Officers form their own professional organization, the Federal Probation Officers Association. 1963 The Judicial Conference of the United States forms a permanent committee—the Committee on the Administration of the Probation System—to address probation system issues. 1975 Pretrial services agencies are established as an experiment in ten districts. The Judicial Conference of the United States adopts a policy that allows each district court to decide whether officers should carry firearms. 1978 Congress gives the Director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts the authority to provide contract aftercare treatment services to drug-dependent persons under probation system supervision. 1982 President Ronald Reagan signs the Pretrial Services Act, which authorizes expansion of pretrial services to each district court. fgdfgdfgdfgdfsIntroIntro Page 2 of 2 Probation and Parole ©2012 Argosy University Online Programs 1984 The Bail Reform Act allows judges to consider danger to the community as a factor in deciding whether to release or detain persons awaiting trial. 1986 The Sentencing Reform Act fundamentally changes the sentencing process in the federal courts. 1986 US Probation Officer Thomas Gahl (Southern District of Indiana) is killed in the line of duty. 1986 The home confinement program is launched in the federal courts. 1989 Most persons under supervision of federal probation officers are not sentenced to probation, but sentenced to prison terms to be followed by community supervision. 1999 The Judicial Conference of the United States adopts a policy requiring updated background investigations for officers and officer assistants. 2000 The Judicial Conference of the United States adopts a workplace drug testing prog ...