What is Probation?

Probation is a sentence ordered by a judge. In many cases, probation is given instead of jail time. Probation allows the person to live and work in the community while being supervised by a probation officer. In the majority of cases, the person will need to check in weekly or every other week to their probation officer. During this time, if the person breaks the law or is involved with criminals the court can place the person in jail instead of allowing them to stay on probation.

 

When the person visits their probation officer they will have to answer questions concerning employment and other pertinent questions. In some cases, he/she may also have to take a drug test especially for crimes that involved drugs or alcohol. During probation, the judge may also order other penalties including therapy for drug/alcohol abuse. If the therapy is not done as required by the court, once again probation can be taken away and the person can do jail time.

 

A criminal defense attorney in many cases can provide individuals with the information they need to decide if probation would be best in their situation and if is might be possible. A criminal attorney can ask that your jail term be lessened or even probation given instead of jail time. Of course probation has quite a bit to do with if this is your first offense or if you have committed the same crime several times.