probation officer

American  

noun

• probation officers
  plural

1. an officer who investigates and reports on the conduct of offenders who are free on probation.

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probation officer British  

noun

1. an officer of a court who supervises offenders placed on probation and assists and befriends them

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• probation officers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of probation officer

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

probation officer

Requesting that bail be opposed, the officer said the accused was a "violent offender" with a lengthy list of previous convictions, a flight risk and added that there were issues regarding his probation officer.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

These included declaring relationships to his probation officer and not contacting previous victims.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

During the visit, guards saw Randall try to pass a blue balloon to her son, a deputy probation officer wrote in the report.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

A probation officer said it is "not clear there's anything actually new here in terms of how probation staff are going to manage people being released earlier".

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

It’s unclear how Tate was able to persuade Holman’s warden to house two pretrial detainees on death row, although Tate knew people at the prison from his days as a probation officer.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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