Abstract

Abstract

Kentucky’s Department of Probation and Parole needs additional officers. While officers are being added, caseloads continue to rise and officers in Kentucky are feeling exhausted. This research project focuses on examining some of the main issues behind the cause and effects that probation and parole officers are facing in Kentucky. The research lists the different aspects of both probation and parole and the dissentions between state and federal probation, since parole was abolished by the federal system 1987. The project includes new legislative reform movements taking place in attempts to reduce the high populations of Kentucky’s jails and prisons and the high operation costs associated with them as one issue, and states that more offenders are being placed on community sanctions as another. Included is a view into the daily life and work by Officer Katie Kee with Kentucky’s Department of Probation and Parole. It also lists that community safety is at stake and suggests that without officers having the ability to adequately perform the duties of their job it puts the community at risk, the officers’ career in jeopardy and proves to be a great injustice to the offenders they oversee. This project suggests that with investments in recounting, advanced training, higher pay incentives and additional benefits, Kentucky could see a rise in qualified applicants applying for open positions relieving stress and exhaustion, officers say they are facing.

Year Manuscript Completed

Spring 2026

Senior Project Advisor

Scott Douglas

Degree Awarded

Bachelor of Integrated Studies Degree

Field of Study

Human Services

Document Type

Thesis

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