Can your Probation Officer find you

If you have violated your probation for interfering with child custody, a third degree felony, you can receive up to five (5) years in prison. Also, must judges place no bond on their VOP warrants, so it is likely you will be held on till your VOP case is resolved. The police or your PO can and usually do find you eventually. It is best to be proactive and retain a lawyer to handle this for you and attempt to minimize how much time you will do. An attorney can arrange for you to turn yourself in, so you are not arrested at work or another embarrassing place, and may be able to arrange a bond. You can locate highly qualified lawyers using the Find a Lawyer tool on . Please let me know if this post was helpful by hitting the helpful button.

From my experience when speaking with probation officers and other law enforcement, most probation officers will check your last known residences, your place of employment, perhaps call/ask family or friends if they've seen you. I really haven't seen any probation officers get into detective mode and go all out searching. It think most will wait until you get picked up randomly during a traffic stop or something similar. It's always a better idea to cooperate in these situations. When you turn yourself in, you may earn some goodwill when resolving your case. However, being M.I.A. for four months won't bode well with the judge or prosecutor.

There are no standard jail sentences for absconding. The only things that you can count on are that a warrant has been issued, it will be served, that the Judge and prosecutor will have you by the short hairs and that the sooner that you deal with your warrant the better. Violations of probation (VOP's) are very different than substantive (new) cases. The terms and conditions of probation make it such that any material and willful violation can result in a no bond hold, a bench (not a jury) hearing (trial) with lax rules of evidence, admissible hearsay and a reduced burden of proof (a "preponderance of evidence" - or "more likely than not"). In the circumstances that you've outlined (a technical) it really depends upon your Judge. In the 305 (where I primarily practice) we have 45 criminal court Judges, some of whom are very strict and others who are more tolerant. I expect that the same holds true in the Tally area. My advise: Locate an experienced Tally area criminal defense lawyer, engage in a meaningful consultation and get yourself some advise which is legally sound and has been custom tailored as possible to meet your specific reasonable needs in your unique case. Your odds at a favorable outcome will likely increase, exponentially, with the assistance of a skilled and experienced criminal defense lawyer who is efforting at moving Heaven and Earth on your behalf. In the interim you might consider taking a look at my Legal Guide on surviving probation / CC in Florida as it contains a great deal of information on the subject and may prove to be helpful to you. For your convenience a link follows: Michael A. Haber, Esq.'s Legal Guide on Probation in Florida: What it is and how to survive it? http://www.attorneyqna.com/legal-guides/ugc/probation-in-florida--what-it-is-and-how-to-survive-it I hope that I have been helpful in answering your question.

If you know there's a warrant out for your arrest on the VOP, the best thing to do is hire a criminal defense lawyer to have them in place when you get arrested. My suggestion to my client is to turn yourself in with the assistance of your attorney and that looks better than if they have to come find you. As for the sentence you're facing, it depends on what you're on probation for, what your prior record is, and if you've had a violation before. If you are formally charged with the new charge, the maximum penalty for that is 5 years but that doesn't take into account what you are on probation for. In many occasions, if you have an attorney, they can work out some type of plea arrangement for you if you are not disputing the charges. Sometimes, it may be possible to get back on probation, depending on the number of points on your scoresheet.