Can my conditions of supervised release be changed?

Yes. A judge may change, reduce, or increase your conditions before your Supervised Release term ends.[975] A probation officer can also change your conditions of Supervised Release.

Changes in conditions (called “modifications”) usually happen because you got in trouble with your probation officer (for example, you tested dirty on a drug test), or you didn’t follow a condition of your Supervised Release. In this type of situation, the probation officer will usually ask a judge to change your conditions, often with the consent of your attorney, to get an order for you to do something (for example, to get an order that you go into in-patient, residential substance abuse treatment).

PRACTICE TIP—AN ATTORNEY CAN HELP YOU: It’s been suggested that it is sometimes easier to work out any changes to your conditions of supervised release directly with your probation officer, rather than go before a judge. To protect yourself in this type of situation, it is best to “invoke your right to counsel”—meaning ask for an attorney to represent you—and then you can communicate with your attorney who will work something out with the probation officer or represent you before the judge if the issue ends up going back to court.[976]

WARNING: Sometimes a U.S. probation officer will ask you to waive (give up) your right to an attorney and submit to a change of your conditions of Supervised Release (called a “modification”).[977] You may be asked (directly or indirectly) to give up your right to an attorney. You should NOT give up this right. You should “invoke your right to counsel instead,” and ask for an attorney. If you do not agree to changes in the conditions of your Supervised Release, then any changes will require the same justification as conditions imposed during the original sentencing hearing.[978]

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  1. 975

    18 U.S.C. §§ 3563, 3583; see also Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 32.1 (describing the procedures required for the probation officer to petition the Court for a modification or revocation of probation or supervised release, and for the Court in adjudicating a potential revocation or modification). The Court can also modify or revoke your Federal Probation or Supervised Release after the official end of the term (i.e., a specific number of years after your release from custody) so long as the violation and Probation Officer’s Petition to Modify or Revoke was filed with the Court before the official end of the term of supervision. This means that the Probation Office can obtain an arrest warrant years after an event occurred. ↑

  2. 976

    Telephone call with David Wasserman, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California, ↑

  3. 977

    See, e.g., U.S. v. Begay, 631 F.3d 1168 (10th Cir. 2011); U.S. v. Emerson, 231 F.3d. 349 (5th Cir. 2007). ↑

  4. 978

    See also Defender Services Office, The Fine Print: Strategies for Avoiding Restrictive Conditions of Supervised Release, http://www.fd.org/docs/select-topics---common-offenses/fine_print.pdf. ↑