How Do I? – Probation

Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities is a legal remedy to restore rights to offenders that were lost as a result of a criminal conviction. Relief can be issued for any number of misdemeanor offenses per offender, but an offender is ineligible for such relief if they have more than one felony conviction. Normally, the relief is issued by the sentencing court after an appropriate application is filed, however, if the sentence involved probation and the offender relocated after the sentence, jurisdiction of the matter may be with the county which accepted the transfer. Additionally, if a state prison sentence was imposed, or if the conviction occurred outside of New York State, the relief must come from the state parole board. A Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities does not remove the conviction, nor does it restore the right to possess a rifle, shotgun, or handgun, as that require a Certificate of Good Conduct, which also comes from the parole board, even if the offender did not receive a state prison term. Information concerning the two certificates is available in the New  York State Correction Law, Article 23.
 
Certificate of Relief from Disabilities application

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Under “Leandra’s Law,” anyone convicted of DWI or a DWI-related offense  must, in addition to any fines or local jail or prison terms, be sentenced to a term of probation or conditional discharge and ordered to install an ignition interlock device in any vehicle that they own or operate, even if their license has been suspended or revoked. Probation or a conditional discharges are required to be served consecutively to any jail or prison term, i.e., the probation or conditional discharge terms do not start until the jail or prison term is completed. In Greene County, DWI offenders are required to attend a victim impact panel, which is co-run by the probation department and the sheriff’s department.

Probation officers are county-employed peace officers who. primarily, supervise offenders that have not been sentenced to jail. Some probationers may receive what is known as a “split sentence,” where they are incarcerated for a short term during the onset of the probation sentence.

New York State parole officers are state-employed peace officers under the auspices of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision who supervise offenders that have been released from state prison. For “Leandra’s Law” offenses, however, it is possible for an offender to be under both probation and parole supervision for the same offense, once the individual is released from state prison.

A Person In Need of Supervision, commonly referred to as a PINS, is a juvenile up to the age of 18 who is truant from school, beyond the control of his/her parents or other persons legally responsible for their care, or who possesses marijuana. A Juvenile Delinquent is a juvenile between the ages of 7 and 16 who have committed acts, which, if they were adults, would be considered to be crimes. The New York State Family Act is the controlling legislation for both of these juvenile categories. By law, local agencies must attempt to divert PINS cases from the formal family court system before a PINS petition is filed with the court. In Greene County, the initial diversion attempt is made via  referral to the Greene County Department of Human Services youth bureau.

Juvenile Delinquency proceedings are initiated by an arrest by police, with fingerprinting required of all youths 13 and over who have been charged with what would be a felony offense if they were an adult, and ages 11 and up if charged with the specific highly serious felony offenses. In most instances, the police agencies refer the delinquent youth to the probation department, where a determination is made as to the suitability of diversion services. If a juvenile delinquent matter is deemed to have been successfully resolved,  the matter is sealed and the offender has the same legal status as if the offense did not occur. Matters that are unable to be resolved at the diversion stage are passed on to the county attorney’s office for review and possible formal family court action