The Probation and Aftercare Service is the principal administrator of community based sanctions in Kenya deriving its mandate from the Probation of Offenders Act Cap 64 and the Community Service Orders Act No. 10 of 1998 Laws of Kenya. It draws further mandate from the Borstal Institutions Act (Cap 92), Children’s Act 2001, Penal Code (Cap 63), Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 75) and the Sexual Offences Act of 2006. The Power of Mercy Act No. 21 of 2011, Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act No. 32 of 2011, Victim Protection Act and any other relevant Acts, The department also implements other crosscutting government policies issued from time to time  

Functions:

• Facilitation in the administration of criminal justice through generation of social inquiry reports to inform decision making regarding Bail, Sentencing and Penal release.
• Supervision of offenders on probation orders, community service orders and other penal release licenses
• Re-integration and re-settlement of offenders in the community.
• Provision of services for Victim protection and promotion of rights and welfare
• Participation in social crime prevention activities

Vision: A just, safe, secure and crime-free society

Mission: To promote and enhance the administration of justice, community safety and public protection through provision of social inquiry reports, supervision and reintegration of non-custodial offenders, victim support and social crime prevention

The Probation and Aftercare Service is the principal administrator of community based sanctions in Kenya deriving its mandate from the Probation of Offenders Act Cap 64 and the Community Service Orders Act No. 10 of 1998 Laws of Kenya. It also draws further mandate from the Borstal Institutions Act (Cap 92), Children’s Act 2001, Penal Code (Cap 63), Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 75) and the Sexual Offences Act of 2006. The Power of Mercy Act No. 21 of 2011, Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act No. 32 of 2011, Victim Protection Act and such other relevant statutes.

Objectives;

1. Generate the information for the dispensation of justice
2. Supervise non-custodial court sanctions and rehabilitate offenders in the community
3. Reintegrate and resettle offenders in the community
4. Promote social crime prevention and participate in the protection of rights and welfare of victims of crime.

Arising from the above, the core functions of the department are:

• Participation in the administration of criminal law by assisting courts and penal authorities make more informed decisions on sentencing, protection of victims and on bail information and release license assessments through provision of various assessment reports
• Interventions in the lives of offenders (juveniles and adults, men and women) placed on various statutory orders (probation orders, community service orders, compulsory supervision of those classified as dangerous sexual offenders) with the aim of reducing re-offending and effecting behaviour change
• Enforcement of various court orders particular to each individual, offence and sentence to be served in the community
• Promotion of harmony and peaceful co-existence between the offender and the victim/community through victim information, reconciliation and participation in crime prevention initiatives
• Reduction of penal population by supervising non-custodial orders and participation in sentence review prison decongestion programmes
• Resettlement and Reintegration of ex-offenders and Psychiatric offenders into the community for peaceful co-existence.

Programmes

1. Probation Orders programme
2. Community Service Orders programme
3. Aftercare and reintegration programme

The above functions and programmes are carried out in all Court Stations countrywide. The Service is headed by a National Director of Probation Service and Aftercare Service and has over the past eight years undergone significant transformation and has embraced new practices, initiated new programmes not within its traditional field but significant for the wider Criminal Justice System. These include programmes related to bail decision making, Alternative Dispute Resolution and victim’s services.