How Does Probation Work? And What Happens if I Were to Violate Probation?

Well probation is usually the following: you’re not allowed to drive; you’re not allowed to consume alcohol – and this also in regards to a DUI – you have to pay off fines and fees; you need to do certain counseling. There’s two different types of probation: there’s supervised probation or unsupervised probation with compliance monitoring. If it’s supervised probation, you’ll have to check in with a probation officer. That officer might come to your house, have a surprise visit; they may have you do a breath test; or just even knock on the door and tell the person to blow into a device; they can do a search of your home. So that is what probation would do. You can always qualify for early release from probation if you’re doing well. And in most cases of felonies, people can be released from their terms after serving half of their time. If you violate probation, then what can happen is – again, if you don’t comply with all the terms of your specific probation, or you violate – such as drinking alcohol, possessing firearm, committing a new crime, failing a urinalysis test or failing to appear when required – you’re probation officer can file a petition to revoke probation. So the probation officer can issue an immediate warrant for a defendant’s arrest. The defendant will be arrested and held non-bondable until a probation violation proceeding is finalized.

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