UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MAINE
Retirement of U.S. Probation Chief Kimberly Rieger
September 7, 2023
On September 29, 2023, Chief United States Probation and Pretrial Services Officer Kimberly Rieger will retire after 24 years of service to the United States Courts. Chief Rieger was appointed to be a U.S. Probation Officer in 1999 in the District of Kansas. In 2009, Chief Rieger transferred to her native Oklahoma as a Supervisory U.S. Probation Officer with the Western District of Oklahoma. In 2013 she was promoted to Deputy Chief U.S. Probation Officer in that district. On March 28, 2018, Chief Rieger was sworn in as the fifth Chief U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officer for the District of Maine.
Chief Rieger’s tenure in Maine was marked both by noteworthy accomplishments for the District, as well as national events that changed the landscape of the probation and pretrial services system. In 2019, the District underwent a scheduled program review by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in which the District scored higher than the national average in every operational area rated by the review. The District set a goal of reducing unnecessary detention. The District hosted the Federal Judicial Center’s Pretrial Decision-Making Program as a well as a Detention Reduction Outreach Program (DROP). As a result of these, and other concerted efforts, the District became, and remains, a national leader in reducing unnecessary detention. Chief Rieger also championed efforts to increase Maine’s involvement on a national level. As a result, staff in Maine now serve on program review teams, national working groups and advisory panels, have been selected for numerous national leadership programs and serve as faculty for said programs, and have been selected for temporary duty assignments with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. These and countless other efforts by officers and staff embody the District’s stated mission of “Promoting Justice, Restoring Communities, Fostering Change.”
In 2019, the judiciary faced its largest budget crisis in years, and a full government shutdown loomed. Double digit budget reductions marked the remainder of Chief Rieger’s tenure. In March 2020, all in-person operations ceased during the national quarantine associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. Chief Rieger led the District through a complete recalibration of all operations to ensure mission-critical tasks continued while also safe-guarding the health of staff and persons under supervision. Chief Rieger worked cooperatively with public health officials in Maine to ensure that her law enforcement staff received priority vaccination status. Operations did not fully return to pre-Covid status until May 2023.
During her Maine tenure, Chief Rieger was selected by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to serve as a member of the Information Technology Advisory Council. She was also elected by her peers in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and DC Circuits to serve a two-year term as a member of the Chiefs Advisory Group. In 2018, Washburn University (Topeka, Kansas) named Chief Rieger an alumni fellow, the highest honor awarded to an alumni by the University. Chief Rieger holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in criminology from the University of Oklahoma and a Masters in Corrections Administration from Washburn University. She is also a graduate of the Federal Judicial Center’s Leadership Development Program.
Appointment of Michael J. Penders as new U.S. Probation Chief
After a national search, Michael J. Penders, the current Deputy Chief United States Probation and Pretrial Services Officer for the District of Maine, will succeed Kimberly Rieger as Chief. Deputy Chief Penders will receive the oath of office at a ceremony to be held on September 29, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom 1 of the Edward T. Gignoux Courthouse in Portland, Maine.
Deputy Chief Penders began his career with the United States District Court in Washington, DC in 2005. In 2012, he was appointed as a Supervisory United States Probation Officer for the District of Maine, followed by appointment in 2016, as Deputy Chief United States Probation Officer for the District of Maine. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Management degree from American Public University.
Deputy Chief Penders serves the federal courts as a member of the National Information Standards Working Group and the Federal Judicial Center as an instructor for the Experienced Supervisors program.
During his professional career, Deputy Chief Penders has served as a Warrant Investigator for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, an Immigration Inspector at Boston Logan International Airport, and as a Community Supervision