The defendant will be expected to abide by these conditions without being required to report to a probation officer. When a defendant is placed on unsupervised probation, the court usually will impose some conditions such as no new arrests, obeying all laws, no drugs or alcohol use, and a requirement that the defendant not leave the state or the county. The judge can order probation to be unsupervised or supervised. If the defendant violates the terms of probation, as discussed below, the judge can order him to serve some, or all, of the remaining sentence in jail or prison. At the end of a successfully completed suspended sentence, the defendant has a criminal conviction on his record. If the judge suspends a portion of the sentence, the defendant must serve the balance of the time in jail or prison but is then released and serves the rest of the sentence on probation. Under this option, the court sentences the offender to a period of incarceration but suspends that sentence (or a portion of it) as long as the defendant successfully completes probation. A violation of probation means the court can impose the sentence and send the defendant to jail or prison. In other cases, the judge might reduce the conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor. In some cases, if the defendant successfully completes probation, the judge dismisses the case and the defendant has no criminal conviction on his record for that case. The result of a deferred sentence varies. A deferred sentence generally means that the court defers imposing a sentence until the defendant has an opportunity to complete probation. Once convicted, the judge will defer or suspend the defendant's sentence.ĭeferred sentence. Deferred or Suspended SentenceĪ judge imposes probation after the defendant pleads or is found guilty. Judges impose conditions or terms of probation that the defendant must comply with to stay out of jail or prison. This usually involves a deferred or suspended sentence, and these sentences are available in both misdemeanor and felony cases. ProbationĪs an alternative to jail or prison, a judge can sentence a defendant to unsupervised or supervised probation. A judge could also direct the offender to speak at a school or event about the consequences of their actions (say impaired driving). We most often think of road clean-up when we think of community service, but it also can include working at a public or nonprofit agency by doing janitorial work or using skills the defendant might have, such as accounting or computer work. Restitution involves paying the victim for any financial losses sustained as the result of a crime, such as the cost of replacing property, medical or counseling costs, and lost wages because of missed work.Ĭommunity service. Fine money generally goes to the government coffers-it might go to the courts, a local government, the state government, a public project, or any combination of these or other recipients. The judge can sentence the offender to pay a fine to the government, pay restitution to the victim, perform a certain number of community service hours, or impose any combination of the three.įine. A judge can also impose these alternatives for felony sentences, such as felony property damage, theft, or embezzlement, especially where an offender is younger and more vulnerable to influence. If a defendant was convicted at trial, his attorney can attempt to reach a sentencing agreement with the prosecutor or appeal to the judge to use incarceration alternatives.Īlternatives to jail and prison currently available can include:įines, Restitution, and Community ServiceĬourts often impose sentences involving fines, restitution, and community service for misdemeanor crimes, such as trespassing, loitering, and disorderly conduct, as an alternative to jail. In negotiating a plea agreement with the prosecutor in a criminal case, a defense attorney can try to secure a sentencing agreement that includes an alternative plan to jail or prison time, especially in cases involving less serious crimes and crimes that do not involve violence. And, as long as a case does not involve mandatory sentences required by law, judges have wide discretion to use alternatives. Lawmakers can provide various sentencing alternatives in statute. As the jail and prison populations in the United States have exploded, courts and lawmakers have become more and more open to alternatives to incarceration.
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