Community Service and Probation

Interviewer: What types of community service might have to be fulfilled by the probationer? Are you responsible for finding it myself or is it assigned by a judge?

Community Service Is Performing Work for a Charitable Organization

Mike Kramer: Basically, it’s a loose condition and they just want you to participate in a non-profit charitable organization. You will donate your time to the organization. There are other jurisdictions where there is a list of places that they recommend you perform the community service. That again, it depends upon the judge, it depends upon where the probation is.

Depending on the Level of the Offense, a Judge Will Assign the Probationer to a Specific Area to Perform the Community Service

For example, if you are sentenced to misdemeanor probation and the sentence is imposed by a local town or a city in Westchester County, they might want you to perform the community service for that local town or city. If it’s imposed by the Westchester County Court, then it can be anywhere in Westchester County or sometimes beyond. It depends upon the judge’s wishes.

What If You Cannot Fulfill the Requirements of the Community Service?

Interviewer: What if I’m unable to complete my community service because of my work schedule or for a health-related reason? Is someone going to work with me on that part of it or am I just going to automatically have my probation revoked?

It Is Advisable to Complete as Much of the Community Service as Soon as Possible

Mike Kramer: Typically, they’re not going to immediately impose any kind of violation for not abiding by the requirement. However, if the judge gave you six months to complete it, you better have substantial amount of it completed by the end of six months should if you need more time.

Each circumstance, each situation is different. If you just have a few hours or days remaining on the community service condition, that work with you to give you more time. If you’ve not undertaken any community service, they’re going to really want to know why and they’ll read the riot act to you. They may give you more time but sooner or later they’re going to lose their patience, so you can only press them so far.

You May Be Ordered to Pay Restitution as a Condition of Your Probation

The same premise applies with the restitution condition. Restitution is a condition often imposed as a condition of probation, meaning that you have to pay back the persons or entities what they lost as a result of your crime. There is usually a payment schedule that you have to meet.

As with Community Service, It Is Advisable to Meet Your Restitution Obligations as Promptly as Possible

If you don’t abide by that payment schedule, the probation officer will work with you to a certain extent but there comes a time where they say, “This was the condition imposed by the judge. You didn’t follow it,” and then, they may go back to the judge and file a violation. He probation officer will leave it up to the judge to re-work that condition and to modify the amount of restitution you have to pay each month.