5 THINGS TO DO TO AVOID REVOCATION OF KANSAS CITY, KS PROBATION & DIVERSION

Whether you are under the supervision of the Johnson County, Kansas district court or any probation or parole office statewide, it can be easy to violate the terms. This will prompt your probation officer to request that your probation be revoked. This is a request and not something that is automatically granted. That is why the matter is set for a hearing before the Kansas court. If you have underlying jail time it is possible that you may be forced to serve some or all of it. Here are five things you can do, based on the most common violations, to avoid revocation:

1. Review the notice of violation and fix the issues (ex. if you are being revoked for failing to pay fines or fees, pay those);
2. Contact your probation officer and follow their directions. The Kansas Courts often follows the recommendations of the State (prosecutor and probation/parole officer). You can use that in your favor where, if you can get he/she to understand your circumstances they may advocate to allow you to remain under supervision. They have a lot of discretion about when, how and why to request revocation;
3. Trail a revocation hearing behind a new case. If your revocation is based upon a new criminal matter, you should avoid having revocation heard before the final resolve of the new case;
4. Defend yourself. Not all revocations are valid. There can be a number of defense you may have to the request to revoke (ex. You have not been reporting because you were in custody, in the hospital, etc.); and
5. Negotiate the terms of revocation. Not all requests for revocation are baseless. In fact, most are valid reasons to revoke. Sometimes the best resolve is what the outcome of revocation will be. There are a number of ways, besides strictly serving jail time, to address a revocation.

Remember - If you are on a Diversion and the State moves to revoke you are at risk of losing all the the benefits of that and facing the consequences of the underlying charges. Many Diversion agreements have you waive the right to trial, and stipulate to the allegations of the crimes, related to the facts of the original case; therefore, you will move to the penalty phase once a finding for revocation is made. 

These are serious matters and your freedom is on the line. If you are facing probation or Diversion revocation in Kansas City, Kansas or across the state, don't hesitate to contact Attorney T. Morton TODAY (913) 602-7288. Payment plans are available.