Anyone know anything about probation, and the possibility of transferring to another state?

[Madrone]

I am letting a girl stay with me that's had some problems in her life. She came here after getting out of rehab (she put HERSELF in rehab). She just went to court today and found out she's got a year probation and someone at the probation office told her the chance of getting transferred was pretty much zero. She's devastated.

She has a boyfriend in Santa Barbara - he just moved there. She wants to transfer there so they can be together and start their lives - and it would be a good move for her as this is a SMALL community full of meth addicts. Not to mention her mother's husband, who molested her throughout her childhood.

In the retelling of events I got this evening it sounds like her lawyer didn't do shit. Jen didn't even know what her plea was - or what it meant. Her mother told her that her assigned probation officer is the same PO as the child molesting husband.

I know pretty much ZERO when it comes to the system - but I think it would be in her best interest to allow her to transfer the probation to another state. What is the likelihood of this happening? What can be done?

TIA for any suggestions.

[SeattleGirl]

1. I suggest she consult with a different attorney.

Most attorneys will do a free consultation. It should be the appropriate attorney too -- sounds like criminal defense would be the best way to go. Then have her prepare herself, as far as what she wants to know, and go meet with the attorney, and find out what she can and cannot do under the laws where she is now and, if she CAN move, under the laws in CA.

[Madrone]

2. Lawyer is pretty much not an option.

I'm supporting her now - and she has no money. I agree though, a lawyer would be a GREAT idea, if we had money, and if we didn't live in freaking Cow Town USA.

[SeattleGirl]

13. As I said, she could just get a consult, which is free.

Or, try the law school at the local college. Lots of time students (supervised by their profs) do free legal work.

You live in Cow Town???? Yikes! I lived there for a year in the mid-70's. That was a trip, I'll tell ya.

[BikeWriter]

3. Anything she does will be up to the Judge and Parole Officer...

[Pierre.Suave]

4. Unfortunately

the most important thing to know about the justice system is this:

it is not interested at all in helping people out of whatever issues caused them to break the law in the first place, only holding people down.

[Madrone]

5. Yeah, that's about the extent of my knowledge up until this point.

Talk about giving a struggling girl a reason to want to run out and get high right after leaving court! Arghh. This sucks.

Also sucking is the fact that I have plans in MY life I can't pursue until she's able to leave. I won't leave the area and leave her stranded here with the only place she has to go being the house her molester lives in. Being a bleeding heart can be a real BITCH sometimes. (not that I'd be any other way) *sigh*

[fizzgig]

6. i don't know about wa or ca probation law

but in colorado, judges are usually willing to authorize a probation transfer to another jurisdiction if the individual can prove they have a support system in place where they are looking to transfer. however, it is up to the probation department where the individual is seeking to move whether to accept them.

here's what i found on the washington department of corrections web site:
http://www.doc.wa.gov/InterStateCompact/Interstate.htm

as far as not knowing or understanding the plea, she should have been given forms outlining the plea agreement and what it entailed. again, i don't know about washington, but in colorado defendants have to sign a form saying that their attorneys explained the agreement to them and what rights they were giving up by taking the plea and the judge goes over the sheet with the defendant during the hearing.

go here http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/index.cfm?fa=forms.contribute&formID=21 and download the first document (CrR 4.2(g)). she should have filled this form out when she entered the plea.

i hope things work out for her.

eta: the court might be willing to grant the trasfer due to her extenuating circumstances

[jarab]

9. I think that's good advice ...

My BIL lived on the KY-TN border - probated to KY after 27 years in state and Fed facilities (long story). For work concerns, he was allowed by his probation officer to work in TN and commute to and from KY.
I believe it's simply between the probation officer and the individual. Just about anything goes so long as the officer is OK with the terms.

...O...

[IndyBob]

7. I'll agree wit some of the other posters..

This is an issue that must be discussed with the PO officer. Some are human, and depending on what the probation is about, they may go along witha transfer.

Once you are on probation, many of your rights are non-existant. You are under the thumb of the State. It sucks, but it beats being incarcerated. A very polite discussion with her PO offocer is your best bet at this point.

[huskerlaw]

8. Pretty much what everyone has said...

it's highly unlikely...and it's up to the judge and the parole officer.

This isn't really my area, but I'm thinking that the court system in Santa Barbara would also have a say...

I would start with her parole officer though. Be very, very nice. Explain the situation, beg for mercy...and if that doesn't work, then try talking to her POS lawyer, and see if he/she can suggest the next step.

But kudos to you for helping this girl. It sounds like, aside from the boyfriend, you're pretty much all she's got.

:hug:

[hickman]

10. She's on probation right? Not parole?

My daughter got a DUI when she was 19. She wanted to move to Tennessee and her probation officer scrambled get the papers ready for her to sign. My impression was that they would not object in any way to her taking her problems to another state. She was required to send back a preprinted form, filled out, each month with the money. Ask the probation officer.

[Madrone]

11. Yes, probation.

I also want to leave the state - so if CA wasn't willing to take her it's already been agreed upon that she will be welcome where I go, if they'll take her there. I'm not going where she wants ... but it would be better than her staying here.

[hickman]

12. Michigan never asked Tennessee if they wanted her.

They just wanted the paperwork kept updated and the money. Probation in Michigan isn't free. She had to pay off her fee's before she would be released from probation. I think this whole thing might be easier than you think. States love for their problem children to relocate as long as they keep up the paperwork so the state's butt is covered. BTW, my daughter never got in any trouble in the 4 years she lived in Tennessee. She loved that state.