Two New Chief Probation Officers Named

Acting Commissioner Ronald P. Corbett Jr. recently appointed two new Chief Probation Officers: Michelle V. Williams to the Charlestown Division of the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) and Stephen C. Wheeler to the Orange District Court.

Corbett said of the appointments, "I was delighted to appoint Ms. Williams and Mr. Wheeler to the vitally important position of Chief Probation Officer. The competence and commitment they bring to their positions is reflective of the breadth and depth of talent that exists in the Massachusetts Probation Service."

Williams, prior to her appointment as BMC-Charlestown Chief, served as an Assistant Chief Probation Officer at BMC-Roxbury. Hired as a Probation Officer at BMC-West Roxbury in 1997, she is the first Haitian-born Chief Probation Officer in the Massachusetts Probation Service. Williams earned an undergraduate degree in Sociology, Black Studies, and Pre-Law at Boston College in 1992 and her master’s degree in Criminal Justice Leadership Policy and Family Violence from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

She will be sworn in by Judge Lawrence McCormick and Acting Commissioner Corbett on April 1st at the historic Charlestown Courthouse where Justice George Lewis Ruffin sat. Ruffin, the first African-American municipal court judge appointed in Massachusetts, presided from 1883 until his death in 1886.

Williams said of her appointment, “It is a huge honor. I am achieving the career goal I set as well as making my mother proud.”

Wheeler, who will be sworn in on March 28th by Corbett and Judge David Ross, was promoted to Assistant Chief Probation Officer in 2006. He first joined the service in 2001 as a Probation Officer.

He is a 2000 University of Massachusetts-Amherst graduate. Wheeler majored in Criminal Justice and Society.