Guam Judiciary Looks for Alternative Solutions to Treat Defendants

The judiciary is also utilizing federal funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to implement a high-intensity supervision pilot program focused on adult drug clients based off Hawaii’s HOPE (Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) Probation. The administrator of the courts said the system will help alleviate the overwhelming workload of probation officers that are currently juggling 200 cases each. Tenorio said the national standard is 40 cases per officer.

The screening will allow the judiciary to weed out “low-risk” defendants and require minimum contact, freeing up probation officers to focus their effort and attention on medium and high-risk individuals. He said the program targets high-risk, felony offenders who are more prone to recidivism and many who have substance abuse problems.