Sheila Jackson Lee: “My amendment preserves the trust and integrity between probation officers and supervisees while ensuring public safety.…”

“My amendment preserves the trust and integrity between probation officers and supervisees while ensuring public safety. While I understand the intended goal in the underlying bill, there are some unique concerns that it raises, and my amendment addresses and will, I believe, provide additional information. My amendment calls for a comprehensive study by the GAO of the newly granted authority to determine the impact on probationers, supervisees, third parties, and the overall probation practice, if that authority is so granted by the vote of this body. This study shall sunset at 30 months after the effective date of this act. These are concerns that we should all have if we want to ensure that this bill works and reaches its intended purpose, if it is voted on by my colleagues and passes. In allowing the study, we will ascertain information that we otherwise would not have but would have learned had we proceeded with a hearing on this bill. This amendment will focus on the bill's impact in application. The study will first review instances of abuse of power in the exercise of such arrest authority. Second, it will document any complaints made and/or filed regarding the exercise of the probationer's arrest authority of third parties. Third, it will study any harm resulting from the exercise of such arrest authority, including any civil action alleging the violation of a civil right in the exercise of this expanded authority.…”