Being charged with a crime of any kind is bad. Being convicted is worse. No one wants to go to jail, and many years in prison is an even less appealing prospect. However, even if you are convicted of a crime, there could be light at the end of the tunnel. It is possible to be convicted of a crime – even one that carries a potential sentence of many years in prison – and still manage to stay out from behind bars. Many factors can play into whether you will be able to avoid wearing an orange jumpsuit, but it is possible. They used to call it probation, but now, in Texas, at least, it is called “community supervision.”
What is Community Supervision?
Just as probation used to do in Texas and still does elsewhere, community supervision is a sentence that allows a judge to substitute a jail or prison sentence with what amounts to supervised freedom. Community supervision combines regular supervision, conditions of behavior, and the possibility of being sent to jail or prison to serve your sentence for violating conditions of your community supervision sentence in an effort to ease prison crowding and allow offenders to get their lives together by serving their sentence in the community. The judge in the case has the sole power to impose conditions regarding community supervision, and generally imposes conditions intended to keep the offender from committing further crimes. In fact, among the most common conditions of community supervision are:
- Getting a job
- Keeping regular appointments with a community supervision officer
- Paying community service and court costs
- Paying restitution for victims of the offender’s crime
- Performing community service
- Obeying travel restrictions, which commonly involve telling your community supervision officer if you are leaving the jurisdiction of the court, where you are going, and for how long
- Not being arrested
When appropriate, the judge may require that the offender attend alcohol or drug treatment classes. These and other conditions are aimed at encouraging the offender to be a responsible and law-abiding member of society.
Community Supervision Can Take One of Several Forms
Community supervision is not exactly a one-size-fits-all program. It can take several forms. These include “regular” community supervision, deferred adjudication, and what is sometimes referred to as “shock probation.” Deferred adjudication involves serving a term of community supervision without entering a conviction, after which your case is dismissed if you complete the community supervision term successfully. Under “shock probation,” the judge sentences the offender to community supervision, but only after they serve a period in jail, usually three to six months.
If You are Facing Criminal Charges in Houston, Talk to Madrid Law Firm
If you have been charged with a crime in the Houston area and conviction appears likely, you need every advantage you can get. A good criminal lawyer might not be able to prevent your conviction – especially if the prosecution has strong evidence of your guilt – but could still keep you out of jail or prison through some form of community supervision. If you find yourself in such circumstances, talk to Madrid Law Firm.
