Navigating Court-Ordered Community Service
Have you been court-ordered to community service and you’re not exactly sure what to do? My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a criminal law attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing law for about seven years, and I want to help you make law easy by just talking a little bit about when community service might be imposed on you and how best you can work that out.
I only see community service being imposed on a client in criminal cases, whether it’s a juvenile delinquent case where I’ve got a kid who’s messed up and we’re trying to keep this from progressing, or if I’ve got an adult who maybe has violated a municipal ordinance or has a light misdemeanor, something like that. Community service could be part of the requirements for probation to ultimately keep you out of jail and possibly even get the case dismissed down the road.
Understanding Community Service Requirements
Most courts don’t have a set requirement of where or how you do that community service, with the exception being if you’re having to do workforce hours, then you’re going to have to do it through the court system, through programs that they have to get those hours handled. But if it’s just straight community service hours, it’s really up to you to find a place that can do that.
They’re going to be looking for you to go to some sort of non-profit organization. A lot of churches have great resources. A lot of homeless shelters have great resources. I’ve even had clients who would go to Habitat for Humanity and just play with puppies and pick up dog poo. That still counts for your community service hours. It’s got to be a non-profit and it’s got to be someone willing to sign off on saying that, yeah, on this date, you did this many hours.
Planning and Completing Your Community Service
It can be a little tedious depending on how many hours you’re ordered to do, but the good news is usually you’ve got time to do it. I’ve seen some cases where the clients had to get them done within 90 days. I’ve seen cases where the clients just had to have it done before their probation was up within one to two years. If you do the math and put pen to paper on it, even if it’s up to like 40 hours of community service, spread it out. You’re going to be okay. It’s just time. It takes up time.
In the eyes of the law or the eyes of the court, if you’re spending that time doing community service, you can’t be spending that time potentially violating the terms of your probation. If you think that community service is something that you’re going to end up having to do or if maybe you want to try to negotiate community service into your deal in exchange for something else, absolutely give us a call. I’ve seen it happen all the time. I can help you figure that out and determine whether or not that’s something that’s going to be beneficial for you.
Get Started with a Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy. If you need guidance on court-ordered community service or any other legal matter, don’t hesitate to reach out. Call us today at 918-879-1681 to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session. Thank you.
