If you plead guilty to a felony and are lucky enough to avoid prison, then you need to be perfect while on probation. Probation IS your 2nd chance. Way too many people wind up getting their probation revoked and having to serve their prison sentence. I’ve copy/pasted below the typical conditions of probation. For those on probation: OBEY.
1. LAWS: I will obey all federal and state laws, municipal and county ordinances. I will report all arrests to my probation and parole officer within 48 hours.
Everyone is expected to obey all laws. If you are arrested at any time for any reason, you must report this arrest to your probation and parole officer within 48 hours.
2. TRAVEL: I will obtain advance permission from my probation and parole officer before leaving the state or the area in which I am living.
Your probation and parole officer must always know where you are. It will be your probation and parole officer who will determine the area in which you will be allowed to travel. There may be times when you will be living in one community and working in another. When this does occur, the probation and parole officer usually limits your area of travel to these two communities. There may be other exceptions from time to time which should be discussed with your officer. When the request is reasonable, the officer may allow you to travel based on a written travel permit for each occasion or without getting his/her permission each time.
Counties or areas in which you are allowed to travel without prior permission should be discussed with your officer.
If you travel outside the State of Missouri, there are certain regulations and requirements that you must follow. All travel outside the State of Missouri must be approved in advance by your probation and parole officer. If approved, a written travel permit must be issued to you by your probation and parole officer. Since there is a certain amount of paperwork involved in preparing these travel permits, you are required to discuss your travels with your probation and parole officer at least 15 days in advance to allow time for the proper paperwork to be prepared. Sex Offenders and Dangerous Felons are required to request permission to travel at least 30 days prior to planned departure. Travel permits for travel outside the State of Missouri may be issued on short notice only in case of emergency, such as serious illness or death in the family.
Travel is permitted outside the state of Missouri, within the entirety of the United States with a travel permit. Canada does not allow offenders to enter and travel in their country. Offenders must get permission to travel outside of the continental United States from the Parole Board and/or the Court if you are on probation.
3. RESIDENCY: I will obtain advance permission from my probation and parole officer before making any change in residency.
Residency is defined as the location where you sleep every night and spend most of your time. It is not just a mailing address; somewhere you keep some property or where you get messages.
Since your probation and parole officer is at all times responsible for knowing your place of residence, it is required that you obtain advance permission before making any change in residency. Your probation and parole officer has the authority to approve or disapprove your home plan. In the event of an emergency and you lose your place of residence, you must notify your probation and parole officer within 48 hours. Your probation and parole officer will be making periodic home visits. This condition is an effort to keep you and your probation and parole officer in close contact with each other.
The Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision has established rules and procedures for transfer of probationers, parolees, and individuals on conditional release from one state to another. You can request that your supervision be transferred to another state. There are specific criteria that must be met by you to transfer out of state as well as those who are residents of another state at the time of sentencing in Missouri. Your probation and parole officer will determine and verify your eligibility for transfer based on the requirements of the Interstate Compact. Probation and Parole staff in the state where you desire to live will investigate the proposed home and employment plan. The interstate investigation and transfer process is complex and may take a significant period of time to be completed. You cannot relocate without the approval of both states.
Per 566.147 RSMo, any person who has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to, been convicted of or been found guilty of violating any provision of Chapter 566, or Invasion of Privacy, Incest, Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the First Degree, Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance, Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Promoting Child Pornography in the First Degree, Promoting Child Pornography in the Second Degree, Possession of Child Pornography or Furnishing Pornographic Materials to Minors shall not establish residency within one thousand feet of any public school or any private school giving instruction in a grade or grades not higher than the twelfth grade or child care facility, as defined 210.201, RSMo, which is in existence at the time such residency is established.
4. EMPLOYMENT: I will maintain employment unless engaged in a specific program approved by my probation and parole officer. I will obtain advance permission from my probation and parole officer before quitting my job or program. In the event I lose my job or am terminated from a program, I will notify my probation and parole officer within 48 hours.
Changing or quitting a job is always a major decision in anyone’s life. It is a decision that you need to discuss with your probation and parole officer before finally deciding what to do. Your probation and parole officer can point out the advantages and disadvantages of making the job change. There are many times when a decision of this kind is made on the spur of the moment and without too much thought. One of the main purposes of this rule, therefore, is to help you avoid making a decision which you may well regret later by not being able to find another job quickly.
You are expected to support yourself and your family and pay your debts. It is an expectation that these obligations are met. This is no different for a person under supervision than it is for any other citizen. We have found over the years that involvement in criminal behavior and unemployment are closely related. During your supervision period, you will be expected to maintain employment. The only exception to this obligation will be your involvement in a specific program approved by the Board, Sentencing Court or your probation and parole officer that is related to your self-improvement.
Prior to quitting or changing a job or program you must have advance permission from your probation and parole officer. In the event that you would be fired from a job or terminated from a program, you have the obligation to notify your probation and parole officer within 48 hours. Additionally, any change in your job or program status should be reported to your probation and parole officer. That includes job layoffs or a program being placed on hold or other reason where attendance at the job or program is suspended for any period of time.
5. ASSOCIATION: I will obtain advance permission from my probation and parole officer before I associate with any person convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, or with anyone currently under the supervision of the Division of Probation and Parole. It is my responsibility to know with whom I am associating.
As you review your past life and think about how you got involved in difficulty with the law, many times you will find that your association with some other person, who previously had legal difficulty, played a role in your situation. This condition is to help you avoid this mistake in the future. It will be your responsibility to know with whom you associate. We would caution you to select your friends and associates wisely. Naturally, there will be times when your work and place of residency will place you in contact with persons who have been convicted of felonies and misdemeanors or with persons who are currently under the supervision of the Board of Probation and Parole. The mere fact that you live in the same dwelling or work in the same place of employment does not mean that you have to associate after working hours or outside the place of residence. If, because of place of residency or employment, you find yourself in association with someone as defined above, discuss the situation with your probation and parole officer. You need advance permission from your probation and parole officer before associating with these individuals.
Additionally, if you have family members who have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor, or are currently under the supervision of the Board of Probation and Parole, you need advance permission from your probation and parole officer before associating with these individuals.
Lastly, you may encounter other offenders when participating in a program. Any association outside the program must be specifically approved by your probation and parole officer. This includes transportation to and from programs.
6. DRUGS: I will not have in my possession or use any controlled substance except as prescribed for me by a licensed medical practitioner.
Use of any controlled substance, unless prescribed for you by a physician, is illegal. Therefore, the use or possession of such drugs is not only a violation of your probation and parole conditions but is also a violation of the law. Your probation and parole officer reserves the right to contact your physician regarding your use of prescribed drugs.
As a part of your supervision, you will be expected to undergo urinalysis or other types of drug testing on a random basis. If drugs are detected, this will also constitute a violation of your supervision.
Failure to produce a urine specimen within the required time period or to follow other directives related to drug testing will result in a violation of your supervision for failure to follow a directive of your probation and parole officer. Attempting or actual adulteration, substitution, or dilution of a urine specimen will also constitute a violation of your supervision for failure to follow a directive of your probation and parole officer.
7. WEAPONS: I will not own, possess, purchase, receive, sell, or transport any firearms, ammunition or explosive device, or any dangerous weapon if I am on probation or parole for a felony charge or a misdemeanor involving firearms or explosives, or it is in violation of federal, state or municipal laws or ordinances.
Weapons, as defined by 571.010 RSMo. include firearms, gas guns, spring guns, black powder rifles, stun guns, tasers, explosive weapons, knives (other than ordinary pocket knives with less than 4 inch length blades), switchblade knives, projectile weapons, blackjacks and brass knuckles. Federal law makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms. These categories include any person who:
1. is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
2. is convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
3. is a fugitive from justice;
4. is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
5. is an illegal alien;
6. has been discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions;
7. has renounced his/her United States citizenship;
8. is subject to a court order restraining the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of the intimate partner; or
9. has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
If you are a misdemeanor offender and are excluded from this condition, the Court may invoke this condition as a special condition of your probation or Court parole if it is felt that it is pertinent to your success under supervision. This condition does apply to any individual who has been convicted of a misdemeanor that relates to or involves firearms or explosives and to all individuals who are on probation or parole as a result of a felony.
When your period of supervision is completed, the restrictions regarding firearms may continue. At the time of your discharge from probation or parole, you should contact the Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, concerning the restrictions placed upon you regarding your possession and use of firearms and how to obtain relief.
8. REPORTING/DIRECTIVES: I will report as directed to my probation and parole officer. I will abide by any directives given me by my probation and parole officer.
Your probation and parole officer may have you report in a number of different ways and/or to various locations. You may be instructed to come to the Probation and Parole Office or another site such as a courthouse or another office building. You also may be asked to send in a monthly supervision report form or call at a designated time. As part of your reporting, the officer may require that you submit documents such as check stubs, receipts for restitution or court costs and income tax forms. All of these documents may be helpful to your officer in planning with you towards a successful supervision period. If you try to contact your probation and parole officer by telephone and he/she is not in at the time you call, you must identify yourself to someone in the office or leave a voice message as to why you are calling. The probation and parole officer can then get in touch with you as soon as he/she is able to do so. Telephone contact or a voice message is not considered an office visit. It is your responsibility to maintain contact with your probation and parole officer. Your officer may give you special directives that will relate to you as an individual. These are in addition to your conditions of probation, parole or conditional release and are important to help you successfully complete your period of supervision. Failure to follow directives is a violation of your supervision.
9. SUPERVISION STRATEGY: I will enter and successfully complete any supervision strategy and abide by all rules and program requirements, as directed by the Court, Board or my supervising probation and parole officer.
The Department of Corrections has developed a continuum of supervision strategies. These supervision strategies include but are not limited to the initial assessment phase, three intervention level phases, electronic monitoring, day reporting, residential facilities, community release centers, community supervision centers, and institutional treatment centers. Your needs and risk to the community will be assessed regularly during your supervision period to determine the program or intervention level that is best for you. Each strategy has its own rules and program requirement. You are responsible for completing any supervision strategy to which you may be assigned and for abiding by all the rules and program requirements pertaining to that supervision strategy.
10. INTERVENTION FEES: I shall pay a monthly intervention fee in an amount set by the Missouri Department of Corrections pursuant to RSMo 217.690. This payment shall be due and payable on the first day of the first month following placement on probation or acceptance of an Interstate case in the State of Missouri or on the first day of the fourth month following parole, or conditional release.
On August 28, 2005 House Bill 700 was passed granting the Board of Probation and Parole authority to collect an intervention fee from offenders. The fees will be used to support services for offenders under the Agency’s jurisdiction, as well as address the public expectation that offenders help offset the costs of intervention services to the State.
Failure to pay intervention fees may result in sanctions including, but not limited to written reprimand, travel restrictions, Court hearing or review, community service, increased level of supervision or shock detention. Additionally, State Statute gives the Board of Probation and Parole the authority to pursue income tax interception, and other authorized collection activities, in order to satisfy the obligation to pay this fee. Furthermore, collection of the fee from available incarcerated inmate account funds is permitted. Authority to collection intervention fees arrears balances continues after discharge from supervision.
Payments can be made via mail, toll-free number, at kiosks in the lobby of Probation and Parole offices, or via Smartphone by scanning the Quick Response (QR) code below. Cash is not accepted and your officer cannot accept payments directly. Speak with your Probation and Parole officer for more information.
11. SPECIAL CONDITIONS: Both the Board of Probation and Parole and the Court that has placed you on probation, parole, or conditional release have the authority to determine special conditions of your supervision period as stated in the preface of this booklet. Depending on the circumstances of the situation, special conditions may include such things as prohibiting you from consuming alcoholic beverages, requiring you to complete a treatment program, or requiring you to be involved in an educational-vocational training program. Special conditions may also set out certain restrictions. They are frequently used for setting court costs, fines and restitution. The Court may require as a condition of probation that you submit to a period of detention in an appropriate institution at whatever time or intervals within the period of probation. This detention may be at one time or at different periods during your probation.
These are examples of special conditions that may be imposed and are not limited to the above list. Remember that they are as important as any of the preceding conditions and failure to abide by any special conditions stated on your order will be considered a violation of your probation, parole or conditional release.