Job Details for Probation Receptionist
| Court Name/Organization | California Eastern Probation Office |
| Overview of the Position | The U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of California has an immediate opening for one full-time receptionist position in Sacramento. Candidates will find the U.S. Probation Office in the Eastern District of California is a great place to launch or continue a career with the federal court system. We offer a stable, positive and professional work environment, a competitive salary range and full federal benefits. Our agency is currently comprised of 75 staff members and our district headquarters is located in Sacramento with a divisional office located in Fresno. There are currently field offices in Roseville, Redding, Modesto, Visalia, and Bakersfield. Geographically, the Eastern District of California includes 34 counties in the central valley from the Oregon border to Bakersfield. |
| Location | Sacramento, CA |
| Opening and Closing Dates | 07/11/2025 - 07/25/2025 |
| Appointment Type | Permanent |
| Classification Level/Grade | CL 23 |
| Salary | $44,294 - $72,010 |
| Link to Court Careers Information | https://www.caep.uscourts.gov/career-opportunities |
| Announcement Number | 25-09 |
Position Description
The Probation Receptionist provides office reception in accordance with internal policies and procedures and provides administrative support to probation officers in a wide range of areas, including preparing form documents and correspondence, conducting online record checks, and creating and maintaining case files.
Candidates appointed at CL-23 will have a potential promotional opportunity to CL-24 Probation Support Technician and CL-25 Probation Services Assistant without further competition (based upon performance, accretion of duties, and budgetary funding.)
(The salary at time of appointment will be set in accordance with the Court Personnel System. Lateral transfers will be considered for probation receptionists currently employed in other districts. A lateral transfer is considered a receptionist’s current Classification Level (up to CL-23) and Step from their current pay table to the Sacramento Pay Table. The agency is unable to match locality pay.)
Representative Duties
The incumbent performs the following duties for the U.S. Probation Office. Representative duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Perform receptionist duties by greeting visitors/callers in person and by telephone, answering routine questions, and directing visitors/callers to the appropriate person or department. Route all duty calls to duty officers and maintain a tally of calls per duty officer.
- Inform offenders/defendants reporting for supervision or investigation on procedures for completing appropriate forms and authorizations. Advise offenders/defendants reporting for the first time regarding officer assignment and basic initial procedures.
- Receives scans and uploads incoming documents into client electronic case file and automated case management database
- Distributes incoming mail to appropriate staff or offices. Collects and delivers mail/documents to other agencies in close proximity to the office. Utilizes and maintains mail meter machine and processes outgoing mail.
- Prepare petitions, orders, letters, memoranda, appointment notices, and other correspondence, including typing, keyboarding, formatting, proofreading, and generating documents from templates, notes, and dictation. Type and edit presentence reports developed by officers. Record chronological entries.
- Gather case statistics and provide information to data quality analysts, per office policy
- Create new investigative files at the direction of probation officers and maintain files up-to-date and in accordance with established office policies and procedures
- Electronically submit appropriate documents to the Bureau of Prisons and Sentencing Commission, at the direction of probation officers
- Assist with conducting online criminal record checks through local or national law enforcement systems.
- Perform other related duties as required
Qualifications
The minimum qualification requirements for this position are:
- High school graduate or equivalent, and
- Two years of general experience
Required Clearances: A criminal background investigation (requiring the applicant to be fingerprinted) will be conducted on the person selected for hire. Applicants considered for this position must undergo a full Office of Personnel Management (OPM) background investigation, as well as a local background investigation.
Citizenship: Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident that is eligible to work in the U.S. and is either currently seeking U.S. citizenship or intends to become a U.S. citizen when eligible. To review citizenship requirements for employment in the Judiciary, please visit https://www.uscourts.gov.
General Experience
General experience is progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates the possession of, or the ability to acquire, the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position. Education above the high school level may be substituted for required general experience on the basis of one academic year (30 semester or 45 quarter hours) equals one year of general experience.
Specialized Experience
Court-Preferred Skills: A Probation Receptionist must possess the ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of people of diverse backgrounds; ability to work in a diverse office environment with frequent interruptions; ability to maintain a professional and approachable disposition; possess the ability and demonstrate the willingness to increase knowledge and skills; possess the ability and desire to function effectively and harmoniously in the office environment; possess demonstrated and sustained exceptional work performance. The following is a desirable skill for a Probation Receptionist; however, is not required: Bilingual (English/Spanish).
Employee Benefits
U.S. Probation Office employees are Judicial Branch employees and are not covered by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations. They are, however, entitled to the same benefits as other Federal employees. Some of these benefits are:
- Up to 13 days paid vacation per year for the first three years of employment; up to 20 days per year until the 15th year of service; thereafter, 26 days per year. Sick leave earned at four hours per pay period (13 days per year).
- Participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System and in a tax-deferred and/or Roth Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)--similar to a 401K plan (with up to 5% match)
- Voluntary participation in Federal health insurance, dental, and vision programs
- Voluntary participation in the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program
- Up to 11 paid holidays per year
- Optional enrollment in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP), Federal Judiciary employees’ Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and commuter benefits programs
- Time-in-service with other Federal agencies and prior military service will be taken into consideration in computing employee benefits
Miscellaneous
The Probation Receptionist provides office reception in accordance with internal policies and procedures and provides administrative support to probation officers in a wide range of areas, including preparing form documents and correspondence, conducting online record checks, and creating and maintaining case files.
Candidates appointed at CL-23 will have a potential promotional opportunity to CL-24 Probation Support Technician and CL-25 Probation Services Assistant without further competition (based upon performance, accretion of duties, and budgetary funding.)
(The salary at time of appointment will be set in accordance with the Court Personnel System. Lateral transfers will be considered for probation receptionists currently employed in other districts. A lateral transfer is considered a receptionist’s current Classification Level (up to CL-23) and Step from their current pay table to the Sacramento Pay Table. The agency is unable to match locality pay.)
Representative Duties
The incumbent performs the following duties for the U.S. Probation Office. Representative duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Perform receptionist duties by greeting visitors/callers in person and by telephone, answering routine questions, and directing visitors/callers to the appropriate person or department. Route all duty calls to duty officers and maintain a tally of calls per duty officer.
- Inform offenders/defendants reporting for supervision or investigation on procedures for completing appropriate forms and authorizations. Advise offenders/defendants reporting for the first time regarding officer assignment and basic initial procedures.
- Receives scans and uploads incoming documents into client electronic case file and automated case management database
- Distributes incoming mail to appropriate staff or offices. Collects and delivers mail/documents to other agencies in close proximity to the office. Utilizes and maintains mail meter machine and processes outgoing mail.
- Prepare petitions, orders, letters, memoranda, appointment notices, and other correspondence, including typing, keyboarding, formatting, proofreading, and generating documents from templates, notes, and dictation. Type and edit presentence reports developed by officers. Record chronological entries.
- Gather case statistics and provide information to data quality analysts, per office policy
- Create new investigative files at the direction of probation officers and maintain files up-to-date and in accordance with established office policies and procedures
- Electronically submit appropriate documents to the Bureau of Prisons and Sentencing Commission, at the direction of probation officers
- Assist with conducting online criminal record checks through local or national law enforcement systems.
- Perform other related duties as required
Application Info
To apply for this position, qualified candidates are required to submit the following in one PDF document in the following order:
- A cover letter addressed to Chief U.S. Probation Officer Mindy McQuivey, U.S. Probation Office, 501 I Street, Suite 2500, Sacramento, California 95814 with the strengths and values you bring to this position, and why you want to be a Probation Receptionist
- A current resume
- AO-78, Federal Judicial Branch Application for Employment, revised May 2024 (download from https://www.caep.uscourts.gov or https://www.uscourts.gov)
The application form must be filled out thoroughly to determine eligibility for the position. This includes the Optional Background Information (questions, 19, 20, and 21) on page 5 of the application form.
- Please email the titled PDF document (Last Name – First Name – 25-09) to caep_hr@caep.uscourts.gov
The federal Judiciary is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.