Navigating the Probation Process in Oklahoma Courts
What to expect during a probation period in the state of Oklahoma? I am Attorney James Worth, that’s the question that we have. So we’ve got somebody who has maybe been charged with a crime, and they get a plea deal worked out for perhaps a deferred sentence or a suspended sentence, but that includes this period of probation. They wanna know what to expect during that time.
And it can vary widely, it’s gonna be specific to the case, and there’s different courts that kind of do things a little bit differently. So if you’re gonna be in municipal court, it’s gonna be one way. If you’re gonna be in county court, it’s gonna be another way, and there’s different types of probation.
Probation in Municipal Court
In municipal court, you can expect there’s gonna be fines and costs that are applicable to that, you may need to pay on a monthly schedule, or if it’s a deferred sentence, may just need to be paid by the end of that probation. Sometimes you’ve got work hours that you have to do, so you have to check in to get approved for a certain place to do work hours. You do those work hours, you turn those in for proof of completion, and essentially got to stay out of trouble.
But they’re gonna have a rules and conditions of probation that notes you can’t violate any laws, you got to do your work hours, you got to do what other hoops to jump through. If it is a larceny conviction, they might have you do a larceny prevention class. If it’s driving related, you might work a deal that has you doing defensive driving. Things like that could be specific to the circumstances.
Probation in County Court
If we’re in county court, and again, it can be different from court to court in county court, but you generally have a couple different types of probation. So you could technically have no probation supervision at all. So you’re on probation, but you’re not supervised, which basically just means make sure to get your court costs paid, and do those things. Don’t run into law enforcement, get any new charges, and then you’ll probably be fine.
But sometimes, most of the time, there’s gonna be some form of supervision. Generally, for lower-level offenses, it’s gonna be DA supervision. So that’s where the district attorney’s office supervises. You have to pay them monthly. In order to do that supervision, it is a way that they help make their budget so they take it very seriously, and it’s a relatively new thing.
Call to Action: Schedule Your Initial Strategy Session
If you want to know what to expect for your probation, you’re definitely going to want to talk to a Tulsa criminal defense attorney privately and confidentially to get legal advice specific to your circumstances. To get that scheduled with a Tulsa lawyer at my office, you can go online to makelaweasy.com or call us at 918-879-1681 to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session.
