A Continued Sentence is Different Than a Deferred Sentence

Video Transcribed: What is a continued sentence in Oklahoma? All right, I’m Oklahoma attorney James Wirth and we’re about to talk about continued sentencing.

Okay, so a deferred sentence is where you’re on probation for a period of time and then it’s dismissed and expunged. A continued sentence is a little bit different. So in a continued sentence, you’ve reached an agreement with the prosecutor and pursuant to that deal, you enter a plea and then you’re put on probation for a period of time.

You stay out of trouble during that, and when you come back before the court, as long as you’re in compliance, that charge that you entered the continued sentence in, that is dismissed and you enter a plea to a lesser offense.

So, this is something we don’t really see in county court, but we see it in some municipal courts. And a typical offense might be for a DUI. So if you’re charged with a first time DUI, you might have an agreement to enter a continued sentence where you’re on probation, you come back before the court having successfully completed that, the DUI is dismissed and instead it’s changed to essentially a reckless driving.

So you get a conviction for reckless driving, but you avoid having the DUI on your record, which can be a good thing and then it’s done from that point.

So, that’s a continued sentence, they’re more rare than the deferred sentences that we see and the suspended sentences that you see and the in time that we see and they’re not really in county courts, you might see sometimes in municipal court.

If that’s a circumstance that you’re working with, you have more questions about a continued sentence, you want to talk to an attorney, you can speak to someone in my office by going to makelaweasy.com.