Probation Pathways in a Justice Reinvestment [as Amended] World

These days, figuring out the permissible ways to respond to a probation violation is easy. All you need to know is the date of the offense for which the person is on probation. And the type of offense (felony, Structured Sentencing misdemeanor, or DWI). And the date the person was placed on probation. And the date of the alleged probation violation. And bear in mind, of course, that the person may be on probation for more than one offense, with different rules applicable to each case. Once you have all that—piece of cake! Kidding aside, Justice Reinvestment and various related statutory amendments since 2011 have created a complex set of rules for probation violations. They vary depending on the type of crime in question and various effective dates. I struggle in my teaching to find some clear way to convey the big picture without leaving out any of the important details. The diagrams below are my latest attempt at clarity. As far as the big picture goes, there are really only three ways a probation period ends: expiration, termination, or revocation. For each type of crime—felony, Structured Sentencing misdemeanor, and DWI—the pathways from Point A ("Probation Begins") to Points E (expiration), T (termination), and R (revocation) vary. For Structured Sentencing misdemeanants, the pathway differs depending on whether the defendant was placed on probation before or after December 1, 2015 (as described here). Let me try to sum things up in words. Any probationer who stays on the green "No violations" lines shown below will eventually reach expiration. But even for non-violators, some modifications (shown in the green [...]