If you’re convicted of a crime, chances are you will have to serve time in jail, prison, or under house arrest. After enough time is served, usually due to good behavior, there’s a chance of being released early and serving the remaining time under parole. Generally, this begins after at least one-third of the original sentence has been served. What happens when you violate parole in Florida?
What Is Parole?
Being placed on parole is when a prisoner (or parolee) is released early as a conditional freedom and is expected to live under certain rules and maintain good behavior for a specific period of time after release. This period of time is considered a transitional period back into regular society. There are restrictions placed on the parolee such as curfews, maintaining employment, staying drug-free, attending meetings, avoiding more criminal trouble, and sometimes even staying in a specified geographic area.
In order to make sure these rules are followed, a parolee is assigned a parole officer upon release. A parole officer’s job is to meet with the parolee and perform inspections and even drug tests to make sure none of the court’s terms are being violated. There are often unannounced visits to the home or workplace to further prove that the parolee is keeping to their agreed conditions.
What Happens When Parole Is Violated in Florida?
If a parolee is caught violating the terms of their parole, there’s a large chance that they will find themselves back in prison. According to The Marshall Project, in 2017 there were over 61,000 offenders in prison for violating their parole.
Some of the ways parole can be violated include:
· Drug use
· Missing curfew
· Committing another crime
· Leaving the city or state without permission
· Failing a urine test
· Skipping required meetings such as AA or Anger Management Counseling
If you or a loved one are out on parole due to time served or good behavior, make sure to follow the terms that are set by the court in order to stay out of prison. If these terms are broken, you are granted the right to a revocation hearing before being sent back to prison. Having an experienced criminal defense attorney by your side may help lessen the follow-up sentencing. Contact Russell Spatz today at 305-442-0200 to see how we can help.
References:
Frequently Asked Questions. (2015, September 29). Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/uspc/frequently-asked-questions#q10