If Youre on Probation for a Drug Charge in Texas, Is Your PO REQUIRED to Give You at Least a Single Drug Test?
Question by Codeez: If youre on probation for a drug charge in texas, is your PO REQUIRED to give you at least a single drug test?
Buddy was clean for like 6 months and did some dope just two days before his last probation check in. He wasn’t drug tested a single time while he was locked in though. Yes I know it’s stupid as hell but he needs to be prepared for the worst
Best answer:
Answer by kv96ic28
This situation is very common.
First off. I will speak about Parole. But the fundamental difference between Parole and Probation is that Parole is monitored less rigidly than Probation. And if you violate while under probation, the results will be much HARSHER than parole. I had a friend who got 10 years probation for a Meth charge, he violated drug School, and ended getting a 40 year sentence in drug Court before he could see the Parole Review Board.
Remember that Parole is for Felons who did time already. Probation is for people who never has gone to prison, and they are given a chance to change their behavior without affecting their record.
When a person visits his PO, or if the PO visits him, a MANDATORY drug test is often conducted. (About 80% of the time), Even if he does not have a drug related charge, he gets tested. If there is evidence of any kind of illegal activity, he will be “violated”. Plus, since it is proof that he is breaking the law, he will get new charges and an extension of his criminal sentence.
A person goes on Parole as a way to continue his prison sentence outside of prison. He must be very careful during this time. He is NOT free. He is closely monitored and watched. The first few months after he is released from prison, he is watched very carefully, and random and spot checks are conducted to make sure that he is obeying the rules and the laws. Initially, there will be checks on him every few days, then every few weeks. Then once a month. Then, every 4 months, and then finally, if after two years of good behavior, he will be granted “unsupervised parole”.
A person is given 3 “strikes”. These are violations of rules. The parole officer intentionally looks for violations of rules, and most especially violations of laws. A “rule” is a artificial behavior law that the felon must abide by. For instance, he cannot smoke, or go into a restaurant that sells beer (even if he does not drink beer), a rule can include not owning a cell phone, camera, computer, use the Internet, go outside the city limits, etc. Some states have really strict rules. Others have lenient rules. Some do not allow a person to violate even once, while other let them violate up to three times.
When you violate a rule, you are “written up”. This is a yellow piece of paper colored document that describes what you did and how you violated, as well as the consequences of your actions. Each time you violate, a yellow write up is included in your “jacket”. This is your 3-ring binder listing your behavior. When your parole officer feels that you are violating rules too much, or too often, or have a bad attitude, you will be “held for review”.
Being “Held for Review” means sitting in a room for 8 hours being chained to a bench while your case is studied. Then you are sent to a prison and wait for the next available slot for the Parole Board to review your case. When waiting, you will be kept separately from the other prisoners, as you are neither a prisoner, nor a parolee.
When the Parole Board reviews your case, they will decide what to do with you. Sometimes it is to be sent back into prison. Other times it means to be sent to a Prison-rehabiliation program of limited duration. Such as two months, 6 months, or 2 years depending on the crime and the violation.
If they discover that you do not deserve to return to Prison, they will release you back onto parole. But, usually, they will send a person back to prison.
That is how the parole system works if you violate a “Rule”. But, if you break a Law while being on parole, it is a different story…
Getting tested positive for drugs shows that you not only violated parole, but you took the opportunity to break yet another law. Thus, you will go immediately back into prison to complete your first sentence, and also go to court to be judged for your new crimes. So your friend will now have to get a new drug charge added to his existing charge. Sometimes, it is simply “time served”, but in general, you can get an additional 3 to 15 years added to your sentence. The upshot of this is that it will push back your new parole release date even further back in time. maybe you will have to wait an additional 3 years until you are up for parole again!
Your friend made a bad mistake. It, however, is a very common one. I can say with great certainty that he will do additional prison time, and he will not be release from his current prison sentence to see the Parole Board for at least one year, and if he has a PROBATION charge under TEXAS law, that he might spend typically as much as 8 more years in Prison before he gets to breathe fresh air again. Sorry.
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