SECTION 99. Powers and duties of commissioner of probation

The commissioner shall have executive control and supervision of the probation service and shall have the power to:

(1) supervise the probation work in all of the courts of the commonwealth and, for such purposes, the commissioner and the commissioner's staff shall have access to all probation records of those courts;

(2) subject to the approval of the chief justice of the trial court, establish reports and forms to be maintained by probation officers, establish procedures to be followed by probation officers and establish standards and rules of probation work, including methods and procedures of investigation, mediation, supervision, case work, record keeping, accounting and caseload and case management;

(3) promulgate rules and regulations concerning probation officers or offices; provided, however, that such rules and regulations shall be approved in writing by the court administrator subject to chapter 150E;

(4) assist the court administrator in developing standards and procedures for the performance evaluation of probation officers and assist each first justice in evaluating the work performance of probation officers; provided, however, that in the event of any conflict between this clause and a term of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, the term of the collective bargaining agreement shall take precedence;

(5) receive all notices of intended disciplinary action against a probation officer or supervising probation officer, including reprimand, fine, suspension, demotion or discharge, that may be initiated by a first justice, supervisor or chief probation officer;

(6) develop and conduct basic orientation and in-service training programs for probation officers, such programs to be held at such times and for such periods as the commissioner shall determine;

(7) conduct research studies relating to crime and delinquency; provided, however, that the commissioner may participate with other public and private agencies in joint research studies;

(8) annually submit written budget recommendations for the probation service to the the court administrator, which shall be in addition to the budget requests submitted by the first justices on behalf of their respective courthouse or courthouses, including probation offices;

(9) annually conduct regional meetings with chief probation officers to discuss the budget needs of the local probation offices; and

(10) hold conferences on probation throughout the commonwealth; provided, however, that the traveling expenses of trial court justices or probation officers authorized by the court administrator to attend any such conference shall be paid by the commonwealth.