The Field Operations Administration (FOA) is responsible for state parole and probation supervision as well as other methods of specialized supervision.
FOA’s parole and probation offices are located in 10 regions throughout the state. While on parole, a person is typically supervised by a parole agent for a period of one to four years. A person is supervised by a parole agent who serves as a resource to increase the person’s successful reintegration into the community. Parole Agents coordinate needed services such as mental health treatment, substance use counseling, housing, and employment. Probation agents supervise persons convicted of certain misdemeanors and felonies to ensure they comply with a court’s probation order. Unlike parole, conditions of probation are set by the court that retains legal jurisdiction over the person’s status.
The FOA also employs specialized supervision of persons including the use of electronic monitoring, sex offender specific caseloads, veteran caseloads, mental health caseloads, risk-based responses and incentives to technical parole violations in lieu of return to incarceration, and coordinating and overseeing offenders who are supervised under the Interstate Compact Agreement.
The Parole Board which is the sole paroling authority for persons committed to the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Corrections is also located under FOA.
