A Johnson County probation officer is one of the best in the state, one a local superior court judge called a "star."
For Jessica Darr, a Franklin native and 2015 Franklin College graduate, the title of Rookie of the Year from the Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana is an especially great achievement because she has dreamed of becoming a probation officer for years.
The seed was planted when county probation officers visited one of her sophomore classes at Franklin College. During the presentation, the mission of the department resonated with Darr, and it stuck with her.
Now, about eight years later, one of the officers who visited that class has been her boss for a year and nominated her for the award.
Darr earned Rookie of the Year because she shows “the attitude, aptitude and the desire to improve,” as well as an aptitude toward leadership, according to the requirements of the award. She beat out new probation officers around the state for the award.
Superior Court 3 Judge Lance Hamner and Chief Probation Officer Angela Morris say Darr is bright, enthusiastic, compassionate and excellent at building relationships with her clients.
“What I’ve observed is the relationship she builds with the offenders,” Morris said. “She asks other people for advice and uses their wisdom along with the rapport she builds. She uses that to build a treatment plan around their needs.”
Each probation officer is assigned clients or individuals who were found guilty of a felony or misdemeanor crime and need help getting their lives back on a lawful track.
Officers are in charge of making sure clients meet the conditions of their probation and, hopefully, helping clients stay out of trouble in the future, Morris said.
Morris said probation officers are a less recognized profession in the criminal justice world, but they make a big impact and support police officers and judges by attempting to end the cycle of incarceration.
A social worker for five years previously, Darr said that work experience along with advice from experienced officers such as Morris shaped her approach to the job.
Darr, who works with adult offenders and Hamner’s court, takes pride in building relationships with clients because she genuinely wants to help them get their lives on track again, she said.
A portion of the job takes place in court — in meetings — but it doesn’t end there, Darr said.
A successful intervention means listening to what’s going on in each client’s lives and helping them get through the often complicated problems that still surround them after incarceration, Darr said. It also involves really listening and setting each person up with the services that will make a lasting impact on them, she said.
The most rewarding part of the job is not this award, but seeing clients make life-changing progress, Darr said.
Darr is a stand-out among new officers, but Morris said the entire department has been working hard throughout the pandemic. The population the department generally serves has been especially hard hit, given their socioeconomic status, she said.
For example, Morris said, juvenile officers came together to make care packages for their clients containing food and supplies for family game nights.
