Philadelphia Technical Violation of Probation Lawyers

An offender could be charged with a technical violation of probation in Pennsylvaniaif they fail to meet certain required conditions of their parole. There are those times, though, when this charge may be something that could have been avoided, such as if the offender used drugs and failed a urinalysis. But, technical violations are, in many instances, more adjacently consistent with a person inadvertently not making it to their scheduled meeting with their parole officer (P.O). When charged, the offender will attend a first level hearing where it’ll be determined whether or not they should be allowed to continue serving their probation, or if they should be held in jail until the second level hearing.

The results of the second level hearing will depend on how the examiner feels about whether or not the offender really violated their probation, and/or if they really deserve to have received the Pennsylvania technical violation of probation charge. For example, one of the conditions of their probation may have been that they keep a steady paying job. There may have been circumstances beyond the persons’ control that would not have allowed them to continue working, such as if the job was a temporary or seasonal one that had halted spontaneously.

Continuing with that example, if the probation (or parole) officer did not get the message clearly about why the offender all of a sudden became unemployed, then it could possibly end up ill-interpreted. The employees’ P.O. might then assume that it was the workers’ fault, and label that “loss of job” as a violation. This miscommunication between the P.O. and the job could have happened for many reasons. There may have been a change of supervisors since the offender started working there. Maybe the new boss wasn’t informed that they were supposed to contact the employee’s P.O. if the job ended.

According to the Board of Probation and Parole, the time behind bars will vary among those who have acquired technical probation (or parole) violations, and it is based on the number of times charged. For example, the first technical violation could get the offender up to six months in jail. The sentencing could be nine months for the second technical violation, and up to a year in jail for a third. This is why it is important to communicate consistently with an assigned P.O. when changes come up in your life, such as if you need to move to a different address. As knowledgeable and reputable criminal defense attorneys, we provide superb legal counsel if you have recently been in a situation where you unintentionally got charged with a technical violation of probation in Pennsylvania.