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Late Completion of Community Service

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  • 04-03-2011, 11:07 PM
    AdrianSkyline
    Late Completion of Community Service
    My question involves court procedures for the state of: Oklahoma.
    Ok, so back in December I was arrested for shoplifting at Walmart in Claremore, Oklahoma. I gave myself up at the store, was taken by an officer to the Rogers County Lockup, and held overnight. After my bail was posted I came back to court on January 5th. I went before the judge who told me to see the DA for a recommendation. I came back the next Wednesday, (the only day anyone could get recommendation appointments) and the DA said I could have a deferred sentence of 60 hours of community service and 3 months probation, or my original sentence of 15 days in jail. I signed the document that laid out my rules for probation, and then went to see the DA of supervision, Chris M. He told me I had until 3 months from now (April 5th) to finish my hours, and told me how I had to pay, and so on. I completed my 60 hours last week, on Wednesday the 30th. I thought: "Now I can go to the courthouse and pay my fine and probation fees, etc and be done."

    My mom insists that's not the case, and shows me the paper I had signed for my deferred sentence. It says I had until the 15th of March to complete my service. I was astounded. I had thought that Chris M., the DA of supervision, would have known what I was supposed to do in relation to his department. I feel that he misled me. I called then DA of Supervision office many times, never getting an answer. I called the Court Clerk, who told me I had a warrant for my arrest, and needed 183 dollars to clear that and my fine. I called the DA's office where I had signed the paper, a receptionist told me that Chris M. was no longer with them, and they were training his replacement, David R. They also said their records were messed up and couldn't help me. I am completely lost. I don't have the money to walk into the courthouse and "handle" things. I could pay the fee for my warrant, but without paying the DA of supervision, how long would it be before another warrant for non payment is issued? I want to tell David R. that I felt misled by Chris M, but I cannont get anyone on the phone, and I don't want to go to the courthouse and get arrested. Can anyone give me insight on what to do? I have a very limited income, and if I sit in jail for two weeks, I'll get kicked out of school, and end up another loser with no future.
  • 04-04-2011, 10:40 AM
    DavidForthoffer
    Re: Community Service Problem >> Where Do I Go from Here
    It sounds like the first step is to pay the $183 to the Court Clerk.
  • 04-04-2011, 08:48 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Late Completion of Community Service
    You need to stop messing around and take care of things. Failure to get before the court to explain the situation potentially makes things worse.

    If it were me I would get before the judge, explain that I misunderstood the deadline for completion of community service due to my communications with "Chris M." and that the deadline described by "Chris M." was the same as the 90-day period of probation such that it made sense, apologize for not paying better attention to the written paperwork, and hope that my completion of all terms of probation by April 5 would satisfy the court not to deem the late completion a probation violation. Consider consulting a local criminal defense lawyer to try to get a sense of what the judge has done in similar cases.
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