Probation is Set up for Many People to Fail
Let’s say you recently had to go to Court to answer for a criminal charge. Maybe you were guilty, maybe you weren’t guilty. Your attorney looked at the evidence and recommended that you plead guilty in exchange for a better plea deal. You agreed just to get this ordeal over with. You avoided going to jail but are now on probation. An officer met with you after your plea. He explained all of the conditions you have to follow and what you have to pay. The officer also mentions that you will face a probation revocation if you fail to meet these conditions. You have no idea how you’re going to comply while working a job and raising children.
Unfortunately, the Courts don’t always care about your troubles. Just to be on probation costs a lot of money. The Court expects you to pay fines, court costs, and monthly fees. You also have to do community service, spend hours taking the expensive classes, and any number of other time-consuming conditions. Just to comply with all of these demands costs even more money. This is because you have to take time off from work, pay a babysitter, and find a ride.
Unsurprisingly, you missed a few payments or a few classes. After all, you have to pay rent, buy groceries, and take care of your kids. As a result, your probation officer has asked the prosecutor to file a motion with the Court to revoke your probation and send you to jail. You feel like you were scammed. You paid all of this money and are still facing jail-time. Can the Court really do this?
Probation Revocation Hearing
The answer is YES. When the prosecutor files a Motion to Revoke Probation, the Court will schedule a Revocation Hearing. At this hearing, the prosecutor will present evidence that you failed to meet one or more of your conditions. They will probably call your probation officer as a witness and could bring in more people to testify as well. After the prosecutor is finished, you will have the opportunity to bring your own witnesses in rebuttal.
What are the Consequences of a Probation Revocation?
If the Court revokes your probation, you could face several consequences.
The most significant consequence is that the Court could sentence you to serve time in jail. The amount of time that you face depends on several factors. These include the seriousness of the criminal offense and exactly how you violated the conditions.
Another significant consequence arises if you were on Deferred Adjudication-Community Supervision. In this case, the Court agreed to dismiss your case if you successfully completed probation. If the Court revokes you under these conditions, then the judge will not dismiss your case and you will have a final conviction on your criminal record.
Additionally, if the State ever charges you with another criminal offense in the future, then the possibility that the Court will allow you to go on probation will likely be much lower.
This is not an exhaustive list of consequences but I include it to point that allowing the Court to revoke your probation is a serious matter.
What do you do if you face a Revocation Hearing?
The first thing you need to do is consult with and hire an attorney. Under many circumstances, a skilled attorney can negotiate with the prosecutor and get them to agree to re-instate your probation without a hearing. The prosecutor will usually require you to correct the issues that the probation office accused you of violating, such as taking a class or paying a fee. Sometimes, the prosecutor will agree to re-instate you on probation but make you serve a longer term.
These cases are winnable. Just because the probation office wants to revoke your probation doesn’t mean that they will succeed. The right attorney can help you avoid jail and lessen other consequences of a revocation. The right attorney will also understand your financial situation and will charge you an affordable rate and set you up on a fairly structured payment plan.