When you fail completing community service, you’re allowed to request an extension. The procedure to do will vary by jurisdiction, but it generally prompts good reasons for not completing the service on time.
In the case of requesting an extension, an offender needs to provide the court with a status report of total hours completed and paying an extension fee. If you have failed to complete your community service, you may wonder how many extensions you will get for your next chance. Let’s dive into our post to find out the information about it!
How Many Extensions Can You Get for Community Service?
You will get at least one automatic extension to complete your community service. However, each court has different rules to determine how many extensions you will get for community service. To know how many extensions you will get for community service, you can call the court or the District Attorney’s Office.
If the probation officer of the offender ordered the community service, the request is created to the PO instead. The offenders should request extensions from the court in Anchorage, Alaska, and Florida. If it’s approved, the offender will be given a new deadline to complete his community service that may need to pay additional fees.
How to Reschedule for Community Service?
For some reasons, you may fail when completing your community service. But, you don’t have to worry, you can request for an extension to conduct the community service again. To request for community service, you need to contact either the court or the district attorney’s office.
It is known that each court will run their community service program differently, so you may need to call around to find the right person to talk to. After that, you also have to contact the community service organization you have signed up with if you should report that you will miss a day.
Here’s the step-by-step to reschedule for community service!
Step 1: Find your deadline for completing community service
After sentencing you, the judge must have given you a deadline to complete your community service. Of course, you need to check to see if you’re close to going past the deadline. If you’re, you may need to contact the lawyer and they will know what you should do if you haven’t completed your community service before the deadline.
Generally, you may be arrested for failing to complete community service. Then, you will need to attend another hearing.
Step 2: Provide the document why you fail to conduct for community service
You must have a solid reason why you don’t complete your community service on time. For instance, you may have entered a drug treatment program to dry out. Of course, you can find documentation that explains where you have been.
Step 3: Call the court
In this step, you need to call the court by making a call to the court clerk by looking in your phone book or searching online. Some District Attorneys commonly have a Community Service Program Office. To find the phone number, you can be looking on the DA’s website. You can tell your situation and ask what the process is for rescheduling.
Step 4: Contact your probation officer
You might have been assigned a probation officer. Of course, you must have this person’s name and contact information. You can call the officer up and ask what you need to do about rescheduling your community service.
Step 5: Find the contact information of community service organization
You can look through your papers to check if you can the phone number for the community service organization. If you cannot find anything, you can do a quick internet search. You can type in the name of the community service organization and its location.
After finding the contact, as soon as you know that you cannot make your scheduled shift, you need to call the organization and try to reschedule. Commonly, you must try to give at least 24 hours’ notice.
Step 6: Explain your situation
Community service organizations might have strict requirements about not cancelling. In this situation, you need to explain as best as you can why you missed your scheduled community service.
The organization may terminate your community service for failure to show up on the scheduled date. Of course, you need to contact the court to see how you can get another placement.
Step 7: Get an extension from the court
Before the deadline for completing your community service has passed, you commonly have to make a request for an extension. For this reason, you must not delay if you see the deadline fast approaching.
Step 8: Get a progress report
If you’ve completed some, but not all of your required community service, you should then get a progress report from the community service organization. Certainly, this document needs to explain how many hours you’ve currently completed.
Step 9: Check if there is a court from
Some courts might have forms which you can fill out in order to request the extension. You will be able to check with the court clerk or with the Community Service Office at the District Attorney’s Office.
Step 10: Complete the form
Afterwards, you need to complete the form. In this case, each form is different. You commonly have to provide the same information that can help the judge decide whether or not to give an extension. For example, you will be asked for the following:
- Your name
- Your case number
- The name of the judge assigned to your case
- How many hours of community service the judge ordered
- How many hours you’ve already completed
- Your reason for requesting an extension
- How much longer you need to complete your community service
- Your signature
Step 11: Submit your form or motion
Here, you need to look in the form to find the address you need to submit it to. If you do not find an address, you go to the court clerk and ask where to file. Certainly, you always keep a copy for your records.
Step 12: Pay fines or penalties if you’re late
The judge may be able to order you to pay a fine for failing to complete community service in time. Well, the judge may also penalize you by raising the amount of community service you should complete.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
