What I need to know is how can I get my sentencing change. I had to do community service but want to have it changed to a fine due to Heart Failure I was diagnosed with just recently. I have everything I need from my doctor stating that I am completely disabled but where do I go from here?
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Are you on probation? If so, contact your probation officer and discuss the matter with them.
If you are only on informal probation and have no specific probation officer assigned to your case, then you need to contact either your attorney or the public defender who handles your case and make a request for them top put you back on calender so you can go before the judge again and explain your situation to him/her ion court. Only the judge can change the sentence or orders you were supposed to follow.
If you didn't have an attorney or a public defender, then you need to contact the clerk of the court and request to get put on calender so you can speak to the judge who handled your case. The clerk can schedule a court appearance for you and you should be able to handle it that way.
Have you already violated your probation for not doing your community service in a timely manner? Has there been a warrant issued for your arrest?
What city or county is your case in? If you are supposed to report to the sheriff and get assigned community service through them, they usually allow you to chose home arrest instead of community service.
This may be what will work best for you. This is basically how it works:
You would be able to do your time in your own home. They charge you ten dollars a day on up, depending on your income for this program. You wear a transponder device on your ankle and they attach a unit to your home telephone line which reports whether your in your home when your supposed to be there. This telephone line must be a designated wired telephone land line, not a cell phone. You can't have any additional features on the line. No Internet, no call forwarding and no answering machine. If you work, they usually give you twelve hours a day that you have to be in your home. You and no one else in the home are allowed to consume or possess any alcohol or drugs while your on the program
and a sheriff can show up at your home at any time to check to see that you are in conformance of the home detention program rules.
If you were given a date to sign up for your community service, go to the appointment on that date and ask about the house arrest program. If you already missed that date, you need to go back to court and get a new date to sign up.
It is usually the sheriff who places you in community service or home detention, not the court. So you will need to speak to them on the date you were given in court and see what they offer.
