Substantive And Technical Violations Of Probation

If your violation is for substantive grounds, this means that the VOP is based on a new arrest or criminal law violation, misdemeanor or a felony. The offense date of the arrest must have occurred during the time period in which you were actually on probation — not before or after.

This means that the new arrest cannot be based on an alleged crime that happened before you were put on probation. This may seem obvious to some, but you would be surprised how often it comes up.

Technical conditions may include the failure to abide by one of these terms: no contact provisions, restitution, court costs, fines, cost of prosecution, cost of probation supervision, weekend jail, house arrest, DUI school, Victim Impact Panel, Driver Improvement Classes, random breath testing, random urinalysis, drug classes, failure to report to probation, abide by curfew community service, anger management classes, batterer’s intervention classes, individual counseling, changing your residence without permission, or improper travel outside county/circuit jurisdiction.

If your violation was for technical grounds, then your attorney needs to look closely at the terms and conditions of the original plea agreement, paying careful attention to applicable dates and the specific language of those conditions. This is important because there may be issues with how the plea agreement was entered and how your sentence was pronounced by the judge which may lead to a defense to your case.

 

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