If you are on probation after serving time behind bars in San Bernardino County, the last thing you want is to go back to jail. Even if you never served time, you certainly don’t want to do anything that would further limit your rights, extend the length of your probation, or result in your incarceration. (See our article, What can cause someone to get a probation violation in California?“)
The penalties for a probation violation in San Bernardino County, however, include all three of those potential consequences.
California Penal Code Section 1203.3
California Penal Code Section 1203.3 gives judges wide discretion to modify or revoke the terms of your probation if you are found to have committed a violation of its previously set terms. The judge can issue an order modifying or revoking the terms of your probation only after holding a probation revocation hearing.
The penalties that a judge can impose for a San Bernardino County probation violation include:
- revocation of your probation and the imposition of any suspended prison or jail sentence
- reinstatement of your probation on the same terms and conditions,
- extension of the length of your probationary term, or
- modification of your probation with additional and more strict terms and conditions
Common Probation Violations
According to its website, the San Bernardino County Probation Department supervises and manages probation for approximately 20,000 adult offenders. Some of the most common San Bernardino County probation violations are:
- failing to comply with any of the terms and conditions of your probation order
- willful failure to pay a fine or restitution (known as “FTP”),
- failure to appear for a scheduled court date (“FTA”),
- failure to report to your San Bernardino County probation officer,
- violation of a “no contact” order,
- driving without a license or insurance if on probation for DUI,
- committing a new crime, and
- failing, or failing to submit to, a drug test (if submitting to drug testing was a probation requirement).
If you’ve been charged with a probation violation in San Bernardino County or are facing a probation revocation hearing, you should contact and retain a San Bernardino County criminal defense attorney as soon as you can. Your rights and freedoms are at stake, and an experienced criminal defense attorney can fight the charges or keep any consequences to a minimum.
