Community Service Procedure

This page details how to determine whether a prospective COURT ORDERED community service volunteer should be allowed to spend time at Free Geek. This does NOT apply to students doing community service for school. Students are regular volunteers whose hours we mark as "school". These instructions are intended to aid those at the front desk when faced with a person who needs to complete court ordered community service hours and would like to do so at Free Geek.

Public Services (currently Darren Heiber) is who you should point questions to.

General Goals

Free Geek is a good place for people to gain job skills, contribute to their local community, meet positive people, and possibly turn their lives around. While part of our goal is to provide opportunities for empowerment and growth, we also want to protect our volunteers. We welcome people who need to complete community service, as long as they are legally able to be around children, have not been convicted of theft or any violent crimes, or have a restraining order against them from someone that volunteers or works at Free Geek. We do not discriminate against court appointed community service workers.

Free Geek cannot accept court-mandated volunteers whose offense(s) have to do with: theft, ID theft, violence, sexual offenses or restraining orders.

The Basics for All Court Community Service Volunteers

• Give a copy of the Community Service Information Sheet to ALL volunteers inquiring about doing Court Community Service with us. Invite them to connect with the Free Geek Community Service Liaison (currently Darren Heiber).

• If someone is not an active volunteer, please ask them to take an orientation tour first at 11 AM or 4 PM.

• Community Service volunteers are responsible for bringing their court order, referral form, community service agreement or program agreement to us. We can make a copy of the original here if thy need us to. This paperwork will need to include their case number, their offense, the county they are completing their hours through, the name of the judge, the number of hours they need, and when they need them by.

• Free Geek cannot accept volunteers who have a restraining order for someone who does or may, possibly, volunteer at Free Geek. As we have volunteers from much of the greater community, anyone who lives within ~40 miles of Free Geek would qualify as a possible volunteer.

Community Service FAQ

• May I earn a free computer?
  • Yes, but only AFTER you have completed your community service hours for the courts. Court community service hours do NOT count toward earning a computer.

• How do I record my hours?
  • It is your responsibility to accurately report your hours to the front desk at the end of each shift you work and indicate they are for COURT. You may ask how many hours you have at any time.

• I'm already a volunteer. Can I use the hours I've already earned for court?
  • Unfortunately, the courts will not accept hours earned previous to the date your community service was assigned to you. You may only count hours toward court AFTER:

1. You have notified the front desk you are doing community service, AND
2. You have provided a copy of your court order or referral paper that shows you have not engaged in any prohibited activities (such as theft or violence).

• When I've finished my hours, how do I turn them in to the court?
  • It is YOUR responsibility to ensure you get your hours turned in on time. Contact us 2 business days (Tuesday through Saturday) before your hours are due:
    • Multnomah County Court volunteers: After hearing from you, the Free Geek Community Service Liaison will print out your hours and verify them according to the requirements of the court. You must pick up these hours in person and deliver them to court by your deadline.
    • Washington County Court volunteers: After hearing from you, the Free Geek Community Service Liaison will complete the timesheet and fax your form to Washington County. Be sure and tell us to do so BEFORE your deadline.

Staff Procedure

For All Courts

• Give a copy of the Community Service Info Sheet to ALL volunteers inquiring about doing Court Community Service with us. Then connect them with the Free Geek Community Service liaison (currently Darren Heiber).
• After screening, enter the following data in the "Notes" field of the database, for each court community service worker:

1. Note hours are for court-mandated community service ("CS")
2. County (& State, if not Oregon)
3. Case number and name of Judge (name of Judge optional)
4. Number of hours required
5. Deadline
6. Anything noteworthy - special instructions, limited areas they can work, etc.
7. Your name

Example: "CS; needs 40 hours by 01/01/2015; Multnomah County Case #111111; Judge Smith; met with Sarah on 01/01/01."

Multnomah County

(this section not recently fact-checked --Mkille 01:17, 7 March 2013 (UTC))

• Community Court = Karen Clark @ 503.988.4993
• Department of Community Justice (ACS Intake) = Donica Addy @ 503.988.3007 (press "1" then "27025#").
• Clean Slate = Joe Nunn @ 503.244.5794 x 257
• Circuit Court = the individual judge or parole officer (PO).
• When hours are complete:
  • Note in database: 1) that hours are complete, and 2) date volunteer may begin earning a computer.
  • Complete the County-specific time sheet and and place a Multnomah county sticker on this sheet (this is the only sheet the County needs.)
  • Please keep court paperwork on file for 6 months.
  • CS volunteers are responsible for returning their own paperwork to the court.

Washington County

• Contact: Bernadine Evenson.
  • Bernadine will send the referral forms (time sheets) directly to Free Geek. These referral forms are not to be given to the volunteer. We fax the referral form back to Washington County directly.
• When volunteer signs up for court mandated community service:
  • Check the Community Service file for the referral form with their name on it
  • Obtain papers from the community service volunteer
  • If we do not have a referral form with the volunteer's name on it, the volunteer is responsible for having Washington County fax, mail or email the referral form to Free Geek
• When hours are complete:
  • Verify all are complete in database & marked as court
  • Complete form and fax to Washington county
  • Wait for fax report and staple to paperwork as proof of date sent
  • File paperwork
  • Note in database: 1) that hours are complete, and 2) date volunteer may begin earning a computer
• Other:
  • Please keep all paperwork from Washington Co. until due date
  • CS volunteer can complete volunteer hours on the due date

Other Courts

FYI: It is not FG's job to write letters or take on extra work due to unique court requirements.

• Treat this as case by case, it is up to you to accommodate and work with other courts.
• Meet with these volunteers to find out what is required of them, and of us.
• Many other courts request a letter detailing proof of volunteering with us, on our letterhead. If you chose to work with them:
  • Ask the volunteer to craft the contents of this letter, including all necessary components for the court
  • You then transfer it to our letterhead and sign.
  • Volunteers from Other Courts are responsible for preparing (with your help) and delivering their paperwork
• When hours are complete:
  • Verify all are complete in database & marked as court
  • Provide necessary documents to volunteer for them to deliver
  • Note in database: 1) that hours are complete, and 2) date volunteer may begin earning a computer.

Front Desk's Responsibilities

• Read all NOTES sections before entering hours.
• Mark all court community service hours ("CS" hours) as COURT in the database.
• Ensure accurate data entry. Repeat back to the volunteer the amount of hours you are entering, for confirmation.
• Be sure to hit "Save" so the hours are logged.