Criminal defense
Probation violations in Florida
The original sentence comes back, and the hearing is nothing like the trial you did not have
A violation of probation is not a new prosecution with the protections of one. There is no right to bond, no jury, and a standard of proof lower than beyond a reasonable doubt. If the court revokes, it may impose any sentence it could have imposed at the start — so someone who took probation on a charge carrying fifteen years is facing fifteen years, not the remainder of the probation. One provision cuts the other way, and most pages never mention it.
01 Quick answers
- Is there a right to bond?
- No. The court "may commit the probationer or offender or may release the person with or without bail." Fla. Stat. § 948.06(1)(e). Release is discretionary.
- What can the judge give me?
- Any sentence the court might originally have imposed for the underlying offense, up to the statutory maximum — not just the time left on probation.
- What is the standard of proof?
- Lower than at trial. A violation hearing is not a criminal trial and the protections are different, including on hearsay.
- Do I get credit for time on probation?
- No. Time spent on supervision is not credited toward a sentence imposed after revocation. Fla. Stat. § 948.06(3).
- Is a missed payment the same as a new arrest?
- No. Technical violations and substantive ones — a new offense — are treated very differently, and the distinction can decide the outcome.
- Is there any protection for a small violation?
- Yes. For a low-risk technical violation by someone who is not a violent felony offender of special concern, the court must modify or continue probation rather than revoke. § 948.06(2)(f).
02 What is at stake
The whole original sentence, not the remainder
This is the fact that makes a violation serious out of all proportion to how it looks. Under § 948.06, when a court revokes probation it may impose any sentence which it might have originally imposed for the offense.
So the exposure is not the time left on supervision. It is the statutory maximum for the underlying charge. A person who accepted probation on a second-degree felony to avoid a fifteen-year exposure is facing that exposure again, and the thing that brought them back may be a missed appointment.
And time on probation does not count. Subsection (3) says that time spent on supervision is not credited toward a sentence imposed after revocation. Three years of compliance does not reduce what can be imposed in the fourth.
That combination — full original exposure, no credit for the years served well — is why a violation is worth defending properly even when the allegation sounds minor.
The exposure is not the time left on probation. It is the full sentence the court could have imposed at the start.
03 The hearing
Why it is not a trial
A violation hearing borrows the vocabulary of a criminal case and almost none of its protections.
No jury. A judge decides, and it is usually the judge who imposed the probation in the first place.
A lower standard. The State does not have to prove a violation beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard is lower, which is a large practical difference in a contested case.
Different evidence rules. Hearsay is admissible at a violation hearing in a way it is not at trial, though it cannot be the sole basis for revocation. That limit matters and it is frequently where a contested violation is actually won.
And no automatic bond. Under subsection (1)(e) the court may commit the probationer or may release them with or without bail. For most people the question of whether they go home before the hearing is argued, not assumed — and for violent felony offenders of special concern, subsection (8)(d) requires that they remain in custody pending resolution.
The practical consequence of all of this is that the work happens early. A person held without bond on an allegation that has not been tested is in a weak position to negotiate anything.
04 Two kinds
Technical and substantive violations are not the same case
A technical violation is a failure to comply with a condition: a missed report, a missed payment, a positive test, leaving the county, falling behind on community service hours.
A substantive violation is a new criminal offense committed while on supervision. It brings a second case with it, and the two interact — a plea in the new case can resolve the violation, and can also prove it.
The distinction is where the best argument usually is. Section 948.06(2)(f) provides that for a low-risk technical violation, by a probationer who is not a violent felony offender of special concern, the court shall modify or continue the probation rather than revoke it, and may add up to ninety days in county jail as a condition. That is a meaningful protection and it is the first thing to check.
Inability to pay is its own issue. Where a violation is for failing to pay restitution or costs, the statute puts the burden on the probationer to show inability to pay by clear and convincing evidence — but a genuine inability, documented, is a defense rather than an excuse. Not having the money is different from not complying.
05 What helps
What actually changes the outcome
Compliance everywhere else. A record of reporting, payments made, hours completed and tests passed reframes a single lapse as a lapse rather than a pattern. It should be assembled and presented, not described.
Fixing the thing before the hearing. Paying what is owed, completing the outstanding hours, enrolling in the treatment that was missed. A judge deciding whether to revoke is deciding about a person as they are on the day of the hearing.
The reason. A lost job, a hospitalization, a car that stopped working in a county with no transit, a work schedule the officer never approved. Documented, these are the difference between a violation and a failure.
And the immigration question. For anyone who is not a United States citizen, a revocation and a new sentence can change the immigration consequences of the original case — a sentence of a year or more is a threshold in federal immigration law. The sentence imposed at a violation hearing counts, which is why the two have to be considered together.
06 The statutes
- Fla. Stat. § 948.06 Violation of probation Arrest, the discretionary release provision, and the power to impose any sentence originally available.
- Fla. Stat. § 948.06(2)(f) Low-risk technical violations Where the court must modify or continue rather than revoke, and may add up to ninety days.
- Fla. Stat. § 948.06(3) No credit for supervision Time on probation does not reduce a sentence imposed after revocation.
- Fla. Stat. § 775.082 Penalties by degree The statutory maximum that comes back into play on revocation.
Probation violations questions, answered
I missed one appointment. Is that really a violation?
It can be, and whether it becomes one often depends on the officer and on the rest of the record. A first missed report with a documented reason is a different conversation from a pattern.
Where it is a low-risk technical violation and you are not a violent felony offender of special concern, the statute requires the court to modify or continue rather than revoke — which is the first thing to establish.
There is a warrant. Should I turn myself in?
Not before speaking to a lawyer, because the sequence matters. Whether bond will be argued, what can be fixed before surrender, and when to go in are decisions that change the position you start from.
Staying away is not an option that improves anything — it adds a failure to appear to the file — but walking in unprepared on a no-bond warrant is how people spend months waiting.
Can they really give me the whole sentence?
Yes. On revocation the court may impose any sentence it might originally have imposed, up to the statutory maximum, and time already spent on probation is not credited.
That is the single most important thing to understand about a violation, and it is why the allegation being small does not make the case small.
I could not afford the payments.
Inability to pay is a real defense, not an excuse, but it has to be proven — the statute puts the burden on the probationer to show it by clear and convincing evidence.
Bring the documentation: income, expenses, the job loss, the medical bills. Describing it is not the same as proving it.
I picked up a new charge.
Then there are two cases and they have to be handled together, because what resolves one can prove the other. A plea in the new case can establish the violation, and the sentence in each affects the other.
This is also the situation where the immigration consequence is most likely to be decided by the violation sentence rather than the original one.
What does this cost?
A flat fee set by the scope, with no payment plans. A violation has a different scope from the original case, and where a bond argument is needed early that is part of it. The scope is set out before anything is signed.
Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans.
07 Keep reading
Talk to Jose A. Dapena about your probation violations matter
You speak with the attorney who would handle the case, not an intake department. Practicing in Florida since 1998, Florida Bar number 152358.
Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans.