The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St.

Douglas County’s chief probation officer mysteriously hasn’t been to work for months, and state and county officials aren’t saying why.

County officials who work with Michelle Roberts, Douglas County chief court services officer since January 2001, told the Journal-World that Roberts has been absent since last spring. On the Douglas County District Court website, Perry Chance is listed as the acting chief court services officer, although Roberts remains listed on the department’s webpage as well.

District Court and state officials declined to confirm whether Roberts had been suspended from her job. Douglas County District Court Clerk Linda Koester-Vogelsang referred all questions concerning Roberts and Chance to Lisa Taylor, public information officer for the Kansas Supreme Court, which oversees the state’s district courts. Taylor confirmed that Roberts is still a state employee and is being paid, but she said state law prohibited her from providing more details.

Attempts to reach Roberts were unsuccessful.

The unexplained absence comes at a time when District Court and county officials are having significant back-and-forth about how to overhaul the local criminal justice system.

Roberts’ position oversees one of two adult probation offices that serve Douglas County District Court. The Court Services Office provides probation services for many of the people who are convicted of crimes in Douglas County District Court. The employees of the Court Services Office are state employees and are managed by District Court officials.

Douglas County Community Corrections also offers probation services. Its probation officers provide intensive supervision of felons who are on probation. Those employees are funded both by the state and the county but are managed by the District Court. But if county officials get their way, that may change — and already has to some degree.

During Roberts’ absence, the county has transferred supervision of a number of adult programs from Court Services and the District Court to Pam Weigand, director of Douglas County Youth Services. Weigand, who reports to the Douglas County Commission and County Administrator Craig Weinaug, oversees juvenile justice programs for intake, detention, probation, truancy and day school.

The programs transferred from court services to Weigand’s supervision are adult pretrial release, home arrest and behavioral health court support. The county has introduced the three programs in the past year as part of its effort to reduce the number of people who need to be housed in the Douglas County Jail. The transfer of the programs are part of a reorganization of the county’s criminal justice system.

To complete that reorganization, Robert Bieniecki, Douglas County criminal justice coordinator, is proposing the transfer of all employees in Douglas County Community Corrections division from the District Court to Weigand’s oversight. The County Commission will consider that recommendation at 6 p.m. Nov. 29.

Bieniecki said the three adult programs already transferred and their five employees would remain under Weigand’s supervision no matter the outcome of the Nov. 29 meeting.

“We moved those programs to more align their management with county policy and protocol,” he said.

It is unclear whether District Court officials intend to fight the proposed move. When asked about the proposal, Koester-Vogelsang said she would save her comments until the Nov. 29 meeting. Douglas County District Court Chief Judge Peggy Kittel and other District Court judges are expected to attend the Nov. 29 meeting, Koester-Vogelsang said.

Bieniecki made the case last month for the transfer of Community Corrections at a County Commission work session.

At that work session, Bieniecki said the Douglas County Commission transferred oversight of Community Corrections to the District Court through a home rule resolution in 2000. It is the only county in the state in which the County Commission doesn’t retain direct oversight of the program, he said.

Bieniecki told commissioners the Kansas Department of Corrections required the home rule resolution be amended in 2002 with the statement that the County Commission remained “ultimately responsible” for Community Corrections. The transfer would streamline its administration by removing the need to report to the District Court, as well as the County Commission and KDOC, Bieniecki said.

Community Corrections’ 10 employees support the transfer, which would make them eligible for compensation at the county’s pay rate, Before receiving a 2 percent raise in July, the state’s judicial employees had not received a pay increase in 5 years. However, the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration does not recognize the Community Corrections as state employees, and they are not covered by state work-related liability insurance, said Sarah Plinsky, assistant Douglas County administrator. The county does maintain liability insurance on them, she said.

They do have some liability exposure, because Community Corrections employees are trained in states policies and procedures, rather than those of the county as the county’s insurance policy requires, Plinsky said. The proposed change would eliminate that concern, she said