Anyone know how probation officers work?

Nervous Nellie

Hi Marilyn,

First of all, congrats on your success thus far. I read your other post and was delighted to hear it.

I'm from Canada, so I'm not sure if the probation laws in the U.S. are the same or similar, but I've had tons of experiences with my son. Hopefully, after your Memorial Day is over, you'll get lots of responses from the others. I imagine the forum here will be pretty slow today.

I would suggest that because you are an adult and certainly haven't been committing any crimes, your probation officer should have no problem with your request.

Normally, the terms and conditions of probation in Canada are that you keep the peace and be of good behaviour, report to your probation officer as directed, not own or possess any weapons (lol) and generally comply with any additional terms of your probation.

The court decision is what determines those additional conditions. Most probation officers are fair and reasonable people and if you advise them ahead of time that you will be out of town for whatever reason, they have no reason to deny you that. They might make it conditional that you don't drive or that you don't drink, but because you are an adult and obviously responsible, as long as you advise them ahead of time, it should be fine.

If the conditions of your probation include any kind of curfew or requirement to be in your residence between certain hours ( i.e. between 11 pm and 6 am), then you may need a letter of permission from your probation officer that you will need to carry with you on vacation. Again, these are Canadian laws, so they may not apply in the States at all.

Regardless, I really don't see you having an difficulty at all in going on vacation, as long as you've notified them and rescheduled any required counselling or meetings until after your return.

Good luck and I'm glad to hear of your great progress!

Nellie

pjcat

Hi Marilyn,


My girlfriend was on probation for the exact same offense, so I might be able to help you out.

It honestly depends on the state you live in, and their policies, as well as if this is your first, second, etc. offense; and finally what the judge finally hands down as punishment.

For my girl, it was she could leave the state for up to 2 weeks providing she gave the probation officer at least a months notice before she was leaving. She also had to supply a local contact number, and had to keep in touch with them.

However she never had any need to leave the state, so I'm not sure if this policy only applies to out of state emergencies such as a death in the family, or if they allow you to go for vacation. I also have no clue how they would handle the random urine testing if you were gone for a set time period, but I know if you do leave you have to take one immediately when you come back.

Hope this helps

Oh and also you CAN"T leave the country period on probation I wrote this assuming you would be going somewhere else in the U.S.


Cheers

pjcat

Oh, and one other thing..be sure you dont fail any of those drug tests. They hammer you hard for that!!


Good luck