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Transfer accord sought for probationers, parolees
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Posted on Apr 04 2006
U.S. insular areas and other island nations in the Pacific are drafting an agreement that would allow inter-island transfer of probationers and parolees.
Simram W. Simram, a senior probation officer at the Superior Court, represents the Commonwealth in the compact negotiations.
Other jurisdictions involved in the compact are Guam, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Marshalls.
Simram said some probationers and parolees are natives of a jurisdiction other than the place where he or she has been sentenced. In some cases, he added, they seek to return home or find employment at their place of origin.
The compact would allow probationers and parolees to relocate to another island nation and remain under state supervision.
“For instance, a person from Palau has a case here and he wants to relocate to Palau, that jurisdiction can supervise him on our behalf,” said Simram, the guest speaker at yesterday’s Saipan Rotary Club meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.
According to Simram, the compact would also provide that a probationer or parolee who relocates to another jurisdiction could be extradited for violating conditions of his probation or parole, among other reasons.
Negotiations for the inter-island agreement began in late 2005 and the compact is now being drafted.
Simram estimated that the Superior Court currently has 2,000 probation cases. About 500 to 600 of these cases involve criminal offenses. Most of the other cases involve traffic violations such as drunk driving.
Some probationers have multiple cases.
The Office of Adult Probation has only eight personnel handling the probation cases.
