Editing Probation (section)

== Violation ==
A probation officer may imprison a probationer and petition the court to find that the probationer committed a violation of probation. The court will request that the defendant appear at a [[order to show cause|show cause]] hearing at which the prosecutor must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant committed a probation violation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sklar|first1=Ronald B.|title=Law and Practice in Probation and Parole Revocation Hearings|journal=The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science|date=June 1964|volume=55|issue=2|pages=175–198|jstor=1140747|doi=10.2307/1140747|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5228&context=jclc|url-access=subscription}}</ref> If the defendant pleads guilty to a probation violation, or is found guilty of a probation violation after the hearing, the officer or prosecutor may request that additional conditions of probation are imposed, the duration is extended or that a period of incarceration is ordered, possibly followed by a return to probation. No law specifies when probation violation proceedings must be commenced, although probation violation proceedings are nearly certain to occur following the defendant's conviction of a subsequent offense or failure to report to the probation officer as ordered.

If a violation is found, the severity of the penalties may depend upon the facts of the original offense, the facts of the violation, and the probationer's criminal history. For example, if an offender is on probation for a gang-related offense, subsequent "association with known criminals" may be viewed as a more serious violation than if the person were on probation for driving a car with a suspended license; the reverse may be true if the initial offense were for [[driving under the influence]]. Similarly, penalties for violation may be greater if a subsequent offense is of greater severity (such as a [[felony]], following a [[misdemeanor]]), or if the original offense and subsequent offense are of the same type (such as a [[battery (crime)|battery]] following an [[assault]], or [[shoplifting|retail theft]] following retail theft).

=== Failing a drug test ===
Court-ordered drug and alcohol testing may be included as a standard or special condition of probation.

A failed drug test while on probation may be reported by the probation officer to the court and may result in probation violation proceedings. At the hearing a judge will determine if the violation warrants revocation of probation, incarceration, additional probation time, or other sanctions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=M. Kevin |last2=Fields |first2=Monique |last3=Maxwell |first3=Sheila Royo |last4=October 2001 |title=Examining Probation Violations: Who, What, and When |journal=Crime & Delinquency |volume=47 |issue=4 |doi=10.1177/0011128701047004|doi-broken-date=24 January 2025 }}</ref>

=== Revocation ===
When a probation violation is extremely severe, or after multiple lesser violations, a probation revocation hearing could be scheduled. A judge at the hearing will consider reports from the probation officer, and if probation is revoked, the probationer will often be incarcerated in jail or prison. However, the term of incarceration might be reduced from the original potential sentence for the alleged crime(s). It is possible that an innocent defendant would choose to accept a [[deferred sentence]] rather than incur the risk of going to trial. In such a case, a probation revocation can result in conviction of the original criminal charges and a permanent record of conviction.