Early Termination

Sacramento Early Termination Attorney

We handle petitions to terminate state probation and federal supervised release.

California law provides that a court may terminate someone's probation early if that person has satisfied the conditions of probation. Cal. Penal Code § 1203.3. In fact, the law permits a judge to terminate probation early if someone's behavior justifies it and the ends of justice would be served. Cal. Penal Code § 1203.3(a). If a probationer has successfully completed all the terms imposed by the court, then the power to continue to supervise the probationer comes to an end.

Likewise, federal law permits a court to terminate someone's federal supervised release based on the interests of justice and the probationer's conduct after the probationer has been on federal supervised release for at least one year. 18 U.S.C. § 3583.

Probation is a sentence of supervision in lieu of incarceration. The policy goals behind probationary sentences place an emphasis on rehabilitation. Courts frequently see people who are unsuccessful on probation. Sometimes probationer's pick up new offenses, or they fall back into old addictions. As human beings, judges find themselves dismayed and disheartened when people are unsuccessful. They do not want to see probationers fail.

The opposite applies. When someone is ultimately successful on probation, that is a positive story. That story shows that the probationer has made the right choices and turned things around. It shows that their probation officers were effective in assisting them. It shows that the court was not mistaken to give the probationer that chance on supervision. Your motion to terminate probation or terminate federal supervised release early is a story of victory. Everyone came together to get done what needed to get done, and now you have the opportunity to tell the judge the good news.