Community Service Guidelines and Options for NJ Criminal Defendants
The Positive Impact of Community Service to Reduce or Avoid Criminal Penalties in New Jersey
Functions of Community Service for Offenders and NJ Communities
Community service, also known as volunteer service, is when an offender works without financial compensation on evenings and weekends for a public or non-profit agency in their community. Community service offers two functions in this way. First, it imposes upon the time and freedom of the offender, requiring them to sacrifice some of their free time in order to complete their hours. Second, community services benefit the community in which it is done by providing services that otherwise might not be available. These services can be services such as serving in a soup kitchen, collecting litter from the sides of roads, counseling substance abusers, or leading treatment meetings. Typically, the individual is sentenced to a specific number of hours and a timeframe within which to complete them, such as 25 hours within six months.
Advantages of Community Service in the New Jersey Criminal Justice System
The purpose of community service in the criminal justice system is to provide an alternative to incarceration for first-time or low-level offenders. It has a number of benefits. While offenders may feel frustrated at having to give up some of their free time to complete their community service hours, it is a much better alternative than other sentences they could have received instead. Some of the important advantages that it provides are outlined below.
Avoiding Incarceration Through Service
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of community service is the opportunity to avoid jail time. Whether it is as little as 30 days or up to a year, incarceration is not a pleasant experience. Additionally, the exposure to others who may have been convicted of other, more severe offenses can lead impressionable offenders to continue down that path, instead of encouraging better choices.
Time spent incarcerated can also cause significant problems for offenders after release. They may lose their job when sentenced to jail time and struggle to find a new job after their release. They may also have to list their conviction on job applications, home rental applications, and other paperwork. Community service may allow the individual to face the consequences of their offense with the possibility of having it expunged upon completion of their hours, depending on the offense and other factors.
Reducing the Likelihood of Reoffending
Community service has several objectives and can be an excellent deterrent against future offenses. While the court can choose to sentence offenders to much harsher sentences, including incarceration, community service may be chosen in an attempt to encourage the offender not to continue down a path of illegal activities as well as avoid incarcerating offenders unnecessarily. Instead of incarceration with inmates who may have committed more severe offenses and/or a higher number of offenses, community service engages offenders in productive activities, which may reduce the chances the offender will commit another offense of the same or a different kind. Finally, it can act as a measure of correction, providing offenders with job readiness skills or experience and expanding their network of associates, making it easier for them to find employment and, therefore, less likely to reoffend in the future.
Promoting Rehabilitation
Community service can help rehabilitate an offender in two ways. First, the public nature of the sentence encourages the offender to see how other people view them when they commit offenses. For many, particularly youthful offenders, the realization that others may be judging them harshly can encourage them to make better choices going forward. Second, community service benefits the community in which the service is done. By engaging in productive, helpful actions in this way, many offenders find that they get the same (or better) feeling that they received from committing a criminal offense. This can encourage them to choose similar useful activities in the future.
Developing New Capabilities Through Community Service
Community service is performed in a variety of ways, some of which are often unexpected to the offender. This allows them the opportunity to possibly learn new skills, gain work experience, and build their self-esteem. Higher self-esteem may encourage the offender to make better choices going forward. The new skills and work experience they gain may afford them new opportunities with a current employer or encourage them to explore career paths they may not have considered before, either of which can encourage the offender not to reoffend.
The Positive Effects of Giving Back Through Community Service
Sometimes, offenders realize almost immediately that they have made a poor choice and regret their actions. Others may not realize it on their own. In either case, community service can help. Community service provides the opportunity to give back to the community, making a positive contribution rather than a negative one. This positive contribution can also encourage improved self-esteem. Seeing the impact their positive actions have on those in their community can also help encourage offenders to carefully consider their future choices and take actions that will continue to have positive effects.
Offering an Opportunity for Restitution
This productiveness in the community also serves as a form of restitution. Community service is often the sentence of choice in offenses such as disorderly conduct or criminal mischief. Community service may not be a direct method of fixing what the offender did (for example, an offender charged with vandalism may not be assigned community service cleaning up graffiti), but it does allow them to give something back to the community they harmed with their actions. This restitution not only serves the offender better as part of their rehabilitation, but it also serves the community better than incarcerating the individual for what is otherwise a minor event.
Keeping the Right People in Jail or Prison and Lesser Offenders from Overcrowding an Already Taxed System
Another objective of community service is reducing jail and prison overcrowding. Nationwide, there are more than two million incarcerated individuals, a 500% increase over the last 40 years. Some of these individuals are incarcerated for serious crimes, such as sexual assault or homicide. Others have been incarcerated for other, much less serious offenses. By choosing community service instead of incarceration for more minor offenses, the courts can reduce the overcrowding occurring in jails and prisons, leaving more space for the more serious offenders who have committed violent crimes or multiple offenses.
Exploring Community Service as a Substitute For Jail Time in NJ
While community service is a sentence, or at least a part of a sentence, what it really serves as is an alternative to incarceration in many cases. While many New Jersey offenses have some minimum incarceration sentence, or at minimum the possibility of a judge imposing a period of imprisonment, whether it be six months in jail or three years in prison, community service offers New Jersey courts another way to penalize the offender without putting them behind bars. Community service is not an option for every offense or every offender, but in certain cases, it can be an effective alternative to sending the individual to jail or prison.
The Role of Community Service in Superior Court Criminal Cases
The range of sentencing options available to judges in New Jersey Superior Courts starts with the most lenient in the form of diversionary programs such as Pretrial Intervention and continues to the most severe, jail or state prison time. Pretrial Intervention is a Superior Court diversionary program available to first-time offenders and allows eligible offenders to avoid conviction and incarceration by completing a supervision and rehabilitation period, while jail and imprisonment are often mandatory sentences for offenders charged with first degree and second degree offenses and is an option for third and fourth degree offenses. Probation and fines or restitution are also options for third degree and fourth degree offenses and may also be ordered in addition to incarceration and/or community service.
How Municipal Court Cases May Involve Community Service
Community service is often an option for minor offenses, but may also be ordered as a component of a larger sentence incorporating other elements as well. Minor offenses that are eligible for community service are generally those without violence or harm to others, such as a first-time DWI offense where the driver is pulled over and did not hurt anyone, minor drug offenses, petty theft and shoplifting, or juvenile offenses. Community service may be ordered on its own or as a condition of probation, with or without fines. A judge may order community service as a sentence, such as for criminal mischief. Other ways an offender may be sentenced to community service include as part of a plea agreement or as part of a court diversion program. In some situations, offenders in criminal cases may complete community service in lieu of fines that may be worse for their current financial situation.
Factors That Determine Community Service Eligibility in New Jersey
Not everyone who is charged with an offense is eligible for community service. There are several factors that are considered when determining whether community service is an appropriate sentence for an offender. The first factor is the type of offense. Someone charged with criminal mischief stands a much better chance of getting community service than someone charged with homicide or manslaughter. However, there are some offenses that may be eligible in some cases but not others. For example, an individual charged with a DWI who did not have an accident and harmed no one may be eligible for community service, while another individual charged with a DWI with an accident and injured another individual may not be eligible.
The offender’s criminal history is also considered. If they have a long list of previous offenses, they are less likely to receive community service as a sentence. First-time offenders are more likely to be sentenced to community service, though sometimes a second-time offender may be eligible, depending on all the other factors. A risk assessment is also done. This considers other factors in the offender’s life to determine whether community service may be enough to deter them from continuing this kind of behavior or whether they may need a more serious sentence. The risk assessment will consider factors such as whether the offender has a support system (such as parents or other family or friends) to help keep them out of trouble, whether they live in a high crime area, their education level, and antisocial cognition. The higher the individual’s score, the more likely they are to reoffend, and courts consider that score along with the other factors such as the offense to determine whether community service is appropriate.
Range Of Community Service Activities Available in New Jersey
While community service is the term used to describe this sentence, it is more of a catch-all term to describe a variety of things. Community service in New Jersey is not just one thing. There are a variety of options that are considered community service. Additionally, the courts often try to match offenders with programs that are suited to them, and there are a number of government agencies and non-profit organizations that work with the courts to place those sentenced to community service.
Community Service Assignments and Choices
Community service activities can be one of many options. Typical community service activities include cleaning parks, assisting at shelters (animal, homeless, etc.), working with seniors, serving in soup kitchens or food banks, or building community projects (such as benches, bike paths, etc.). Some offenders may teach as their community service, either educating others about the consequences of their actions or using their skills to educate others. In some cases, courts may even work with an offender to create a unique community service option specific to that individual, based on their skills, abilities, and passions. Because part of the intent of community service is to rehabilitate the individual and offer restitution to the community, the court tries to ensure that the individual will be able to view the sentence as a benefit rather than a punishment.
Pairing Offenders With Service Opportunities
The courts sentence community service in part because they hope it will encourage the offender to choose a different path than the one that brought them before the court. To increase the chances that this will happen, the courts will generally try to find community service placements that suit the skills and abilities of the offender. This ensures that their community service is more enjoyable, and while this may seem counterintuitive (many believe that consequences for a crime should not be pleasant), it can show the individual that doing good can feel just as good, or even better, than the rush they get from committing crimes. The courts often have extensive networks of public, government, and non-profit agencies with whom they can place those sentenced to community service, making it easier to find the right match between offender and program.
Non-Profit Organizations and Government Agencies
There are many public, government, and non-profit organizations that offer or accept community service placements from the courts. The court may specifically refer the offender to an agency, or they may allow the offender to find one on their own and report it to the court. Some of the agencies in New Jersey that offer or accept court-ordered community service placements include libraries, landscaping or gardening, a wide variety of events (such as World AIDS day or Jersey Pride), halfway houses (assisting individuals with finding employment), food pantries and distribution sites, soup kitchens, animal shelters, homeless shelters, churches, and others.
Comprehensive Guide to Completing Your Community Service Sentence in NJ
Community service is typically ordered as a number of hours and a timeframe within which to complete those hours. For example, an individual may be ordered to complete 100 hours within one year. Community service takes time away from the offender’s life, but the court should ensure that it does not interfere with the offender’s employment whenever possible. This is why the timeframes given often seem quite lengthy for the number of hours given. The court is allowing for the individual to only be performing community service on weekends or evenings, around their work schedule. If offenders have children or other concerns that would interfere with performing their community service hours, they must find a way to make arrangements or discuss these concerns with the judge. Once the courts have ordered community service, it must be completed.
Court Orders and Supervision for Community Service
Community service is usually ordered by a judge. Once ordered, the court assigns a probation officer to the offender, who is then required to complete their hours under the supervision of that officer. If the court did not already choose a suitable community service placement, the probation officer will work with the offender to find one. The probation officer then monitors the offender’s progress toward completing their sentence until it is complete. The offender must comply with all of the probation officer’s rules and reporting requirements, including reporting hours worked and attending any meetings the probation officer sets. Failure to do so can result in receiving a summons to appear at a Comprehensive Enforcement Program hearing, where the community service may be terminated and the original sentence enforced. Once community service is complete, the probation officer will inform the court and the individual’s case will be closed.
Meeting Reporting Requirements For Successful Completion Of Community Service
Court-ordered community service has several reporting requirements that must be met. First, offenders usually must provide written verification of the hours they have worked. This may require the agency to write down the hours or it may require a signature from a supervisor at the agency to confirm the hours are accurate. Regular contact with the offender’s probation officer is also a requirement. This is especially important if the offender’s ability to pay or perform their community service hours changes for some reason.
The offender must also comply with all rules from the court, their probation officer, and the agency with whom they are performing the community service. If they fail to do so, this failure can be reported to the court and the community service can be terminated and the original sentence enforced. These rules may include not using offensive language, specific instructions to perform the work, and providing a doctor’s note or medical certificate if the offender is too ill to work.
The offender must report their progress regularly to their probation officer and/or the court as ordered. Showing progress toward fulfilling their required hours is critical to showing compliance with the court’s order. If the court does not see this progress in the form of regular reports, they may conclude the offender is not complying and terminate community service, invoking other penalties.
Consequences of Failing to Comply With NJ Court-Ordered Community Service
Failing to complete community service as ordered by the court can have significant consequences. Having community service terminated and the original sentence enforced is just one possibility. Failing to complete community service is a violation of the court order, which can result in being charged with contempt of court, which comes with its own potential penalties.
Other potential consequences of non-compliance include additional community service hours, a bench warrant for the offender’s arrest, and a harsher sentence. This harsher sentence may include jail time, driver’s license suspension, fines, wage garnishment, or a civil judgment filed against the offender. The precise penalties for non-compliance with court-ordered community service will depend on the offense, the offender, and the judge’s discretion.
Contact a NJ Criminal Defense Attorney to Determine if Community Service Can Benefit Your Situation
Someone facing what seems to be a minor offense or a first offense may be tempted to try to represent themselves or to simply take a public defender. However, our talented team of New Jersey criminal defense lawyers at The Tormey Law Firm can offer much more assistance than a public defender or you attempting to represent yourself. At our criminal defense firm, we can advocate for community service to reduce or replace your sentence so you can avoid jail time. Our attorneys appear in courts in New Brunswick, Edison, Paramus, Fort Lee, Bridgewater, Cranford, Somerville, Elizabeth, Woodbridge, Nutley, Bergenfield, and throughout New Jersey on a frequent basis, and we can often negotiate with the prosecution to work out a plea arrangement that includes community service. Contact us today at (201)-556-1570 for a free consultation and learn more about how we can put our experience and expertise to work protecting your rights and seeking the best outcome possible for your case.
