Home Detention and Work Release Violation Lawyer

Home detention or work release violation? I can walk you through what comes next.

Call Wynn. (317) 832-1182

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By Myekeal Wynn, Attorney at Law

Home detention and work release let you serve a sentence while keeping your job and your family together. When a violation is alleged, two things can happen at once: the program or the prosecutor can ask the judge to revoke the placement, and the State can file a new criminal charge. Both need to be defended, and they need to be defended together.

What the program can do

If the community corrections program says you violated the terms, the director can do any of the following. Ind. Code § 35-38-2.6-5(a).

• Change the terms of your placement

• Continue the placement

• Move you to a different program

• Ask the court to revoke the placement and send you to jail or prison for the rest of your sentence

The prosecutor can ask the court to revoke the placement too. Ind. Code § 35-38-2.6-5(b).

The new charge: escape

Certain home detention violations can be charged as a separate crime. Escape is a Level 6 felony when a person knowingly or intentionally does any of these in violation of a home detention order and without written or documented authorization from the supervising entity. Ind. Code § 35-44.1-3-4(c).

• Leaves the home

• Remains outside the home

• Travels to an unauthorized location

• Removes, disables, or interferes with an electronic monitoring or GPS device

Failing to return to lawful detention after a temporary leave is also a Level 6 felony. Ind. Code § 35-44.1-3-4(d).

How I defend it

• Authorization. The statute turns on whether there was written or documented authorization. Schedules, passes, texts, and emails with your case manager matter.

• Knowing or intentional. A dead battery, a late bus, a medical emergency, or a schedule mix-up is not the same as choosing to leave.

• The equipment. GPS drifts and monitors fail. I get the monitoring data and the device records.

• The records. I get the program file, not just the violation report.

• Your credit time. If the violation is found, the court has to account for the time and good time credit you earned. Ind. Code § 35-38-2-3(i). I make sure every day is counted.

What I bring to the fact-finding hearing

At the fact-finding hearing, which the court may call a dispositional hearing, the judge decides whether you keep your placement. I bring proof of work, treatment, payments, clean screens, and your emails with your case manager.

What to do right now

• Keep following every rule of the program. Do not give them a second allegation.

• Save everything. Schedules, passes, texts, emails, and call logs with your case manager.

• Do not explain it to the program or the police before you talk to a lawyer. What you say can be used in both cases.

Related: probation violations, warrants, criminal defense.

Common questions

Can I be charged with a crime for leaving home detention? Yes. Leaving, staying out, or going somewhere unauthorized without written or documented authorization can be charged as escape, a Level 6 felony.

My monitor lost signal. Is that a violation? Equipment problems happen. The State has to show you knowingly or intentionally interfered with the device.

Will I lose my placement? Not automatically. The program can change your terms or continue the placement, and the judge decides any revocation.

Do I keep credit for the time I already served? You earn credit on home detention and work release. I make sure it is counted.

Let’s protect your placement

Call Wynn. (317) 832-1182

Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contacting Wynn Law does not create an attorney-client relationship.