Early Termination of Probation

A court may terminate a defendant’s term of probation before its scheduled time in certain circumstances. The applicable statute states:

The court shall have authority at any time during the term of probation to revoke, modify, or change its order of suspension of imposition or execution of sentence. The court may at any time when the ends of justice will be served thereby, and when the good conduct and reform of the person so held on probation shall warrant it, terminate the period of probation, and discharge the person so held.

(Penal Code §1203.3, subdivision (a).)

Therefore, two things must be in order for a defendant to be granted early termination of probation: First, the ends of justice must be sub served by such early termination. And second, the good conduct and reform of the defendant must warrant the early termination.

It is well-settled that although the prosecuting attorney must be given a two-day written notice and an opportunity to be heard regarding a defendant’s motion for early termination of probation (Penal Code §1203.3, subdivision (b)), the decision to terminate defendant’s probation early is a matter “for the exclusive exercise of judicial power.” (People v. Allen (1975) 46 Cal. App. 3d 583.) That is, the prosecutor has no “veto power” regarding a defendant’s request that his probation be terminated before the full term has expired. (Id.)

For DUI cases, once probation is terminated, there is no more Zero Tolerance as it relates to driving with any measurable amount of alcohol or drugs in your system.