Friday, September 11, 2009
Page 3
Chief Judge Names Michelle Carey Head of Probation Office
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has approved the appointment of Deputy Chief U.S. Probation Officer Michelle A. Carey to head the district’s probation office.
Carey’s appointment as chief probation officer was approved Wednesday and will take effect Nov. 1 upon the retirement of incumbent Loretta S. Martin.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Audrey B. Collins, who tapped Carey for the post, commented that Carey was “the unanimous choice of the Court from a field of outstanding candidates.” Collins said judges on the interview panel commended Carey’s “strong academic credentials and her enthusiasm for the position and the goals of probation.”
A graduate of Columbia College and Harvard Law School, Carey practiced law in New York before moving to California to joint the probation office in 1997. She described the change as “one of the most rewarding career decisions of my life.”
Carey has held a number of supervisory and line probation officer positions in the Central District since her original appointment, and has served in her current position since 2006.
She currently leads a probation office team to develop a re-entry program for drug offenders with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Public Defender and the court.
The U.S. Probation Office in the Central District is one of the largest probation offices in the federal system with over 278 officers and support staff serving 34 senior and active Article III judges and 23 magistrate judges. The office’s jurisdiction includes seven counties in the metropolitan Los Angeles area in 13 branch offices.
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