Robert Monroe, chief probation officer, first meets a new probationer, and offers him a possible job. Then he deals with a runaway case, and tries to arrange for the parent, parole advisor, and family doctor to help return the runaway to a school for juvenile offenders from which he has just fled. He notes changes in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure affecting probation. Later he helps a judge decide whether to release a parolee without bond, refuses mercy to a three-time offender, but offers help in welfare assistance to the man's wife, and interviews four defendants.