Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Probation is one of a few types of alternative sentencing that is used by the Tennessee Courts when sentencing defendants who have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, a crime. Simply put, alternative sentences are used when the defendant is able to convince the court that he or she does not deserve to have to spend the entirety of the defendant’s sentence in confinement. This is usually due to the fact that the defendant is a first-time offender or a non-violent offender, or the circumstances of the offense warrant lenient treatment for the defendant. If a defendant can show the court that alternative sentencing is warranted, the defendant may be ordered to do community corrections work or serve all or a part of his or her sentence on probation as an alternative to being incarcerated. Such a sentence is very favorable to a defendant, but does not allow the defendant complete freedom.

Whenever a defendant is placed on probation or community corrections, the court imposes a number of restrictions on the defendant. Failing to abide by those restrictions constitutes a violation of probation. For example, a defendant is almost always prohibited from using illegal drugs or carrying a firearm as a term of probation. If the defendant is found to have engaged in either course of conduct while on probation, he or she has violated the terms of probation and the court will revoke the probation. When this happens, the usual course of conduct for the court is to require the defendant to serve out the remainder of his or her sentence in confinement. This can be disastrous for a defendant if, for example, she is in the first year of serving out an eight year probation sentence.

As discussed above, violating probation can have dire consequences. Therefore, persons who are alleged to have violated probation should seek experienced legal counsel who can assist them in proving to the court that they have not done so. A skilled criminal defense attorney can not only assist the defendant as he or she serves out a probationary sentence but also in contesting an alleged violation, enabling the defendant to avoid confinement if at all possible.