Facing a Probation or Parole Violation in Riverside?

If police or your probation officer arrest you, you are booked and may be held until you see a judge. If you are held on a new charge, you must be brought to court within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays (PC 825). If you are held only on the violation, you are still entitled to a prompt court date. If you get a notice to appear instead, go to court on that date, or the judge can issue a warrant.

At the first hearing, the judge often summarily revokes probation, which pauses your probation term, and you can admit or deny the violation. Until the formal hearing, the law generally favors release on your own recognizance, especially on misdemeanor probation (PC 1203.25). The sooner we’re involved, the sooner we can start working on your case.

Breaking any term of your probation can be a violation (PC 1203.2). Common examples are a new arrest, a missed check-in with your probation officer, a failed or missed drug or alcohol test, not finishing a required class or program, missing a court date, contact that a protective order prohibits, and not paying restitution or fines you are able to pay.

The conduct behind a new arrest can be found to be a violation even if the new case is never filed or is later dismissed, because the judge decides the violation separately and under a lower standard. The arrest by itself does not prove a violation. Generally, the violation must also be willful, meaning you could have complied and didn’t.

A judge decides it; there is no jury. The prosecutor only has to prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not, which is much lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

You still have important rights: written notice of what you are accused of, a lawyer, a chance to see the evidence, to testify and to present witnesses and documents, and, in most cases, to question the witnesses against you. Some written reports can be used if they are reliable. Many cases are resolved without a contested hearing, through an agreement on how probation will continue.

The process is similar, but the stakes are higher. If felony probation is revoked, the judge can sentence you to the term the original felony allows, which may mean state prison or county jail.

Mandatory supervision, the supervised part of a county jail sentence under PC 1170(h), is revoked the same way as probation, and a violation can mean serving the rest of that sentence in custody. If you signed a flash incarceration waiver when you were placed on probation or supervision, probation can book you into county jail for 1 to 10 days for a violation without a court hearing (PC 1203.35). You can refuse, and probation can then take the violation to the judge instead.

Yes, but it is not automatic. If the judge finds a violation, the options include reinstating probation on the same terms; modifying it with new terms, such as jail time, classes or treatment; extending it, within the limits the law allows; or revoking it and sentencing you.

If probation is revoked, the judge can impose any sentence the original offense allowed, up to the maximum, with credit for time already served (PC 1203.2(c)). If the judge already imposed a sentence and suspended it, and probation is revoked and ended, that same sentence generally goes into effect (PC 1203.2(c)). The outcome depends on the violation, how you have done on probation, the original case and how the violation is handled from the start.

Usually the courthouse where your original case was handled, since the violation is decided in that case. If the violation is based on a new arrest in another part of the county, the new case may start in a different courthouse, and the two cases are sometimes handled together. Your notice, citation or release paperwork lists the courthouse and date. If you were placed on probation in another county and now live permanently in Riverside County, you can ask to move your case here. The court must transfer it unless it finds the transfer inappropriate and explains why on the record (PC 1203.9). Call us and we will find the case.

The Riverside County Probation Department supervises adults on formal probation, mandatory supervision and postrelease community supervision (PRCS), with field offices across the county. On summary (informal) probation, there is usually no probation officer, and the court monitors your terms directly. Your probation officer can ask the court to find a violation, and in some cases can use a short flash incarceration of up to 10 days instead (PC 1203.35, 3454).

A judge, not the parole board, decides whether you violated parole. Before asking the court to revoke parole, the parole agency must first decide that lesser sanctions, such as added conditions, treatment, or a flash incarceration of up to 10 days, are not appropriate (PC 3000.08(d) to (f)). If a petition is filed, you have the right to a lawyer, written notice of the alleged violation, a chance to see the evidence, to testify and present witnesses, and to question the witnesses against you unless the court finds good cause not to allow it. The violation must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence, a lower standard than in a criminal trial. If the court finds a violation, it can return you to parole with changed conditions, which may include jail time, revoke parole and order up to 180 days in county jail, or refer you to a reentry court or another evidence-based program (PC 3000.08(f) and (g)). These hearings are held at the Banning Justice Center.

Since January 1, 2021, most misdemeanor probation is limited to one year (PC 1203a) and most felony probation to two years (PC 1203.1). These limits came from Assembly Bill 1950.

There are exceptions. Violent felonies and offenses with their own probation lengths can carry longer terms, such as DUI, which carries three to five years when probation is granted, and domestic violence, which requires at least three years. Felony embezzlement, theft by an employee or agent, and some false financial statement cases over $25,000 allow up to three years (PC 1203.1(l)(2)). A violation can also pause the probation term while it is being decided, so the case can continue past the date your probation would have ended.

That can matter a great deal. Probation can’t be revoked just because you didn’t pay restitution, fines or fees unless the judge finds you were able to pay and willfully didn’t (PC 1203.2(a)).

More generally, courts have held that a violation should be willful. A missed appointment caused by a hospital stay, a ride that fell through, being held in custody somewhere else, or another problem outside your control may not justify revoking probation. Proof matters, so keep records of medical visits, work schedules, program attendance and payment attempts, and bring them to us.

Be careful. You generally must report as directed and follow your probation officer’s instructions, but anything you say about the alleged violation can be used to prove it. If the violation is a new arrest, politely decline to answer police questions and ask for a lawyer.

Don’t contact the alleged victim or witnesses, and don’t discuss the case by text, email, social media or jail phone calls. All of it can be recorded and used. If you testify at the violation hearing, California law limits how prosecutors can use that testimony in a related new case, but the protection has limits, so talk to us first.

It depends on the evidence and the term you are accused of violating. Common defenses include:

• The violation was not willful, such as a missed appointment caused by illness or another problem you couldn’t control
• You were never clearly told about the term, or the term was too vague to follow
• You were unable to pay, which bars revocation for nonpayment alone
• The new arrest is based on weak, mistaken or false accusations
• The evidence is unreliable, such as a faulty test or an unsupported report
• Your probation term had already ended before the alleged violation

We review the probation file, test results, program and payment records, and any new police report to find the weaknesses in the case.

In some cases, yes. The judge can end probation early when your good conduct and progress justify it, after notice to the prosecutor (PC 1203.3). Ending probation early can also let you seek an expungement sooner.

Once probation ends, you may be able to have the conviction dismissed under PC 1203.4. If you violated probation, dismissal is not automatic, but the judge can still grant it in the interest of justice. Some felonies can also be reduced to misdemeanors (PC 17(b)). For non-citizens, admitting a violation or receiving a new sentence can carry immigration consequences, so talk to us before you admit anything.

State parole is supervised by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Postrelease community supervision (PRCS) is supervised by the county probation department. Parole violations have been decided by the superior court, not the parole board, since July 1, 2013. PRCS violations have gone to the court since PRCS began in 2011. The supervising agency files a petition, and a judge holds a hearing (PC 1203.2, 3000.08, 3455). In most cases, a violation can mean up to 180 days in county jail, or a flash incarceration of 1 to 10 days. People on parole for a life term can be returned to state prison instead (PC 3000.08(h)). Parole and PRCS revocation petitions are heard at the Banning Justice Center. You have the right to a lawyer at the revocation hearing.

Probation is granted by the judge in your criminal case. The judge suspends the sentence, often in place of some or all jail or prison time, and releases you on conditions (PC 1203(a)). A probation violation is decided in that same case. If no sentence was imposed earlier, the judge can impose any sentence the original offense allowed. If a sentence was already imposed and suspended, the judge can order that sentence carried out (PC 1203.2(c)). Parole and PRCS come after a prison sentence. A parole or PRCS violation is usually decided on a petition from the supervising agency (PC 3000.08(f), 3455(a)). For most people, the court can order no more than 180 days in county jail for each violation, though people on lifetime parole and some people convicted of sex offenses against children under 14 can be returned to state prison (PC 3000.08(g) and (h), 3455(d)). Both are decided in superior court using the lower preponderance of the evidence standard.

Often not right away. After a parole or PRCS arrest, you can be held in county jail while the agency decides how to respond, and you usually cannot post bail on the hold itself (PC 3056(a), 3455(c); In re Law (1973) 10 Cal.3d 21). Posting bail on a new charge does not release you from the hold. If you are held, you have the right to a prompt probable cause hearing where you can tell your side. It is decided by someone not involved in your case, which can be a parole or probation official rather than a judge (Morrissey v. Brewer (1972) 408 U.S. 471; People v. DeLeon (2017) 3 Cal.5th 640). Once your case is before the court, your lawyer can ask the judge to release you while it is pending, and the court can order your release on terms it sets, unless you are serving a flash incarceration (PC 1203.2(a), 3000.08(c), 3455(b)(3)). Time in custody normally counts toward any jail term the court orders (PC 2900.5). Jail time on a parole or PRCS revocation can also earn conduct credit under PC 4019, but flash incarceration does not (PC 4019(i)(1)), so a 180-day term can be served in about 90 days if you earn full credit.