On September 27, 1982, the Pretrial Services Act was signed into law by the President, mandating pretrial services functions be provided in each judicial district except the District of Columbia. Initially, pretrial services in the Eastern District of Missouri was administered by the United States Probation Office. In the spring of 1987, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the Eighth Circuit Judicial Council decided to establish a separate pretrial Services Office. On September 21, 1987, R. James Behm was sworn in as the Chief United States Pretrial Services Officer. On May 24, 1996, Chief Behm resigned to become Chief United States Probation Officer in the Eastern District of Missouri. On November 1, 1996, Eugene C. Kain, Jr., was sworn in as the Chief United States Pretrial Services Officer. On April 2, 2009, Cynthia Bochantin was sworn in as Chief United States Pretrial Services Officer, following Chief Kain’s retirement on March 31, 2009. On September 30, 2013, following Chief Bochantin’s retirement, Mark M., Reichert became the Acting Chief United States Pretrial Services Officer, and in March 2014, Officer Reichert was sworn in as the Chief United States Pretrial Services Officer.

At inception, the Pretrial Services Office in the Eastern District of Missouri included one chief United States pretrial services officer, one United States pretrial services Officer, one chief clerk, and one clerk. In 1994, a satellite office was opened in Cape Girardeau to serve the court in Southeastern Missouri. Currently, the Pretrial Services Office in the Eastern District of Missouri includes one chief United States pretrial services officer, two supervising United States Pretrial services officers, five senior United States pretrial services officers, thirteen United States pretrial services officers, two United States pretrial services officer assistants, and a support staff of four.