WHAT CAN MY PROBATION OFFICER MAKE ME DO?
If you’ve been convicted of a crime and been given a probation sentence depending on the severity of the crime and the jurisdiction you are in, you may have been assigned a probation officer. A probation officer’s job is to make sure that you are complying with the terms and conditions of your probation. He or she is basically the court’s watch dog, charged with looking after you while you are on probation. Another part of a probation officer’s job is to report back to the prosecutor violations of your probation so that they can ask the court to take away your probation and put you in jail. If you aren’t taking probation seriously your probation officer will be the first to tell on you. A probation officer has a tremendous amount of power over you. One bad word from your probation officer could land you in custody.
If you are wondering what your probation officer can make you do, always look to the probation contract that you signed or the judge’s order that lays out the terms and conditions of your probation. In most courts probation officers are given wide latitude in how they treat you and what they make you do. Some probation contracts will go as far as to say that you must comply with any recommendations, sanctions or reasonable additional requirements that your probation officer requests you to perform while on probation.
Some defendants make the mistake in believing that they are in charge of themselves while they are on probation. Some defendants think that probation is somehow a right or they are entitled to probation. This type of thinking will get you in trouble. Not listening to and getting along with your probation officer can lead to life changing consequences. You have to remember when you are convicted of nearly any crime in Kansas you can be sentenced to jail. In fact, if you are on probation then you were sentenced to jail time. The judge has the ability to deprive you of your liberty and put you in jail. When you are allowed to be on probation instead of serving jail time, the judge can order you to perform a very wide range of tasks, if you don’t do those tasks then the judge can and will put you in jail.
Here are some very common conditions that a probation officer may make you abide by while on probation.
Pay court fines and costs regularly.
Refrain from Drug and Alcohol use.
Submit to Random Drug and Alcohol tests and pay for the tests.
Meet at the probation officer’s office anytime and as often as they like.
Stop by your house and check on you.
Make you get a job or keep your current job.
Make you go to school or get a GED.
Put you on House Arrest.
Make you have a GPS monitor.
Make you have a SCRAM portable alcohol bracelet or an RBU breath monitor.
Not let you leave a certain jurisdiction.
Make you get a drug and alcohol evaluation.
Make you go to drug and alcohol counselling.
Make you pay money for supervision fees.
Make you go to a theft prevention class.
Make you go to an AA meeting.
Make you go to Domestic Violence Prevention Classes.
Make you get a mental health evaluation and follow the recommendations
Not allow you to be friends with or live with a certain person.
Not let you take certain types of medicines.
Not let you drive a car.
Make you take a class that is specific to the crime you were convicted of. (DUI)
Not break the laws of any other jurisdiction.
Clear up warrants in other jurisdictions.
Perform Community Service.
If you are have a criminal case and you are worried about probation and your ability to be successful while on probation talk with a criminal defense lawyer that practices in the jurisdiction that your crime is charged in. The criminal defense lawyers at Roth Davies service clients with criminal matters in Johnson County District Court, Overland Park Municipal Court, Leawood Municipal Court, Shawnee Municipal Court, Merriam Municipal Court, Lenexa Municipal Court, Mission Municipal Court, Prairie Village Municipal Court, Roeland Park Municipal Court, Olathe Municipal Court, and a host of other courts in Johnson County Kansas. Call for a free consultation today.