Who Does What
Pretrial Services Officer
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The work of the pretrial services officer (sometimes called a PSO) focuses on defendants--individuals who have been arrested but not convicted of a crime. Shortly after an arrest, the officer begins to gather information about the defendant, through records checks and an interview, to help the judge decide whether the defendant can be released until trial or should be detained. If the judge decides at the detention hearing to grant pretrial release to a defendant, the officer’s job with respect to that defendant shifts to pretrial supervision. Some districts have a pretrial services office that is separate from the probation office; in other districts, the probation office is responsible for both pretrial services and probation work.
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