By Bruce Mohl

Oversight of the state’s probation department won’t be resolved any time soon under a budget agreement worked out by House and Senate negotiators.

The budget proposal calls for the creation of a committee to recommend whether probation and the state’s parole board should be overseen by the state’s top administrative judge or by the governor and his staff. Parole is currently administered by the executive branch, while probation operates with significant independence within the judicial branch. The deadline for the committee’s report is the end of this year.

Even though the lawmakers postponed any decision on how to administer the two agencies, they did give top court officials a bit more oversight over probation. A provision in the budget would allow the chief justice for administration and management to transfer up to 5 percent of budgeted probation funds in the coming fiscal year to other judicial departments in case of a budget shortfall.

The lawmakers rejected a Senate proposal to give the chief justice joint authority with the commissioner of probation to hire, fire, promote, and discipline agency employees. That power will remain with the probation commissioner.

The powers of the probation commissioner and how his agency should be administered have come into play in the wake of reports in the Boston Globe, CommonWealth, and other news outlets about patronage practices at the agency. The Supreme Judicial Court responded to the Boston Globe reports toward the end of May by suspending with pay Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien and by appointing an independent counsel to investigate the agency. The independent counsel’s report is due toward the end of August.

The House and Senate budget negotiators also agreed to several other provisions that CommonWealth has reported on extensively. They include these measures:

  • Requiring state agencies dispensing tax credits after Jan. 1, 2011, to disclose the names of recipients and the amount of tax credits they received;
  • Requiring the creation of a searchable website where financial data about the state and its issuance of tax credits can be accessed;
  • Requiring any capital gains tax receipts in excess of $1 billion to be placed in a rainy-day fund.

Once approved by the full House and Senate, the budget will go to Gov. Deval Patrick for approval.