Supervision Conditions and Revocation Hearing Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Summary. A checklist from intake through termination: the eight intake questions, the compliance file, the operating routines, the first twenty-four hours after a problem, the revocation hearing, modification, and early termination.

For doctrine, see Probation, Parole, and Supervised Release. For the workflow, see Surviving Community Supervision.

Phase 1 — Intake: the eight questions

Every condition read, and anything unclear asked about — with the answer written down and dated.
1. Total financial obligation, itemized — supervision fees · testing fees · program fees · restitution · court costs. Monthly amount?
2. Is there an income-based payment plan, and how do I apply?
3. Can any of it be converted to community service, and at what hourly credit?
4. Testing schedule — where, when, what hours?
5. Travel request process — form, notice required, who approves?
6. How do I reach you between appointments?
7. Is there earned compliance credit in this state, and is it being applied to me?
8. When do I become eligible for early termination?
Copy of everything signed obtained; photographed before leaving the building.
Sentencing transcript requested (to compare against the written conditions).

Phase 2 — The compliance file (week one, then ten minutes a week)

Signed conditions + sentencing transcript.
Contact log: date · time · who · how · what was said — every appointment, call, and message.
Every payment receipt, in date order, with a running total.
Every test result — including every negative.
Program attendance records, signed by the provider.
Certificates of completion.
Pay stubs and an employment letter, refreshed annually.
Proof of address.
Copies of every written request made and every response received.
Letters from employers, providers, and community members — obtained while they still remember you.

Phase 3 — The first ninety days

Every appointment, test window, and payment date in a calendar with two reminders each.
Routes mapped at the actual times to the probation office, testing facility, and provider. If not reachable → modification request now, with the transit or work schedule attached.
Itemized total obtained · income-based plan requested in writing · first payment made (recurring transfer set up).
Employer letter obtained; reporting and testing aligned to the shift.
Required programs started, not merely scheduled (waiting lists and intakes take weeks).
Month 3 self-audit against every condition.
Three things checked and written in the folder: technical violation cap · earned compliance credit · early termination eligibility date.

Phase 4 — Reporting

Never a missed appointment. If something happens: call before the appointment time, then confirm in writing the same day.
Changes reported immediately: address · phone · employment · any arrest or police contact.
Truthful answers where required — a false statement is unrecoverable.
Understood: statements to the officer are generally not protected and may be shared with other agencies, including immigration authorities.
If a question turns to possible new criminal conduct → ask to speak with a lawyer first (not the same as refusing to report).

Phase 5 — Testing

Schedule, location, and hours known; conflicts raised as a modification in month one.
All prescriptions and supplements disclosed in advance, in writing, with the bottle or prescription, and noted in the file.
If you have used: tell the officer BEFORE the test. (Self-reporting is treated categorically differently from a positive result discovered.)
A screening immunoassay is not a confirmed result → confirmatory GC/MS or LC/MS test and full laboratory documentation demanded in writing, immediately.
Chain of custody requested where a result is disputed.

Phase 6 — The money

Itemized total obtained in writing.
Income-based payment plan requested in writing, with a simple budget.
Community service conversion asked about at a stated hourly credit.
Something paid every single month, without fail — receipts kept. (A consistent partial payment record is the Bearden defense.)
If payment is impossible: written notice before the missed payment, with the reason and documentation, requesting deferral or modification.
Interest and surcharges questioned; waiver or reduction requested.

Phase 7 — Travel and relocation

Travel outside the district: written request, written approval, carried with you.
Relocation: Interstate Compact application — 45 to 120 days.
Receiving state's requirements assembled: confirmed address · family ties or employment · provider if required.
No travel or move before written approval — it is a violation and easy to prove.

Phase 8 — The day something goes wrong (first 24 hours)

Contact the officer before they contact you — same day, by phone and in writing.
Facts stated plainly, without excuses.
Documentation attached: discharge summary · schedule change · repair invoice · transit notice.
A specific fix proposed: make-up appointment · assessment already scheduled · payment plan · modification request.
If arrested: say nothing to police · ask for a lawyer · then notify the officer as the conditions require, after consulting counsel.
Never: disappear · hope it was missed · explain three weeks later · give an account the records contradict.

Phase 9 — Modification

Officer consulted first — an unopposed motion is usually granted on the papers.
One condition identified, quoted exactly.
Conflict documented with a third-party record, not an assertion.
Compliance history led with (from Phase 2).
A specific alternative proposed the court can adopt.
Filed early — month two reads as planning; month ten reads as an excuse.

Phase 10 — If a violation is filed

Counsel

Counsel requested, with the reason stated: the violation is disputed, or there are substantial and complex mitigating circumstances (Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778 (1973); federally, Rule 32.1).

Records demanded in writing

The violation report.
The officer's chronological notes (more useful than the report; rarely produced unless asked).
Sign-in sheets for every appointment at issue.
The confirmatory laboratory test and full packet — not the screening result.
Chain of custody.
Treatment attendance records.
Payment ledger.
Signed conditions form.

Morrissey rights asserted

Written notice of the claimed violations.
Disclosure of the evidence.
Opportunity to be heard, present witnesses and documents.
Confrontation and cross-examination of adverse witnesses — unless the court SPECIFICALLY FINDS GOOD CAUSE. Object to hearsay and demand the witness; make the court make the finding on the record.
A neutral hearing body.
A written statement of the evidence relied on and the reasons.

Theory selected (one or two, not five)

It did not happen (records contradict the report).
Notice was inadequate (oral vs. written condition · officer-added condition · vagueness).
Not willful (hospitalization · imposed schedule change · vehicle · child care · transit).
Ability to pay — Bearden inquiry required.
Inadmissible hearsay, witness not produced.

Exhibits assembled

A conditions · B contact log · C payment receipts with running total · D all test results including negatives · E provider attendance records · F certificates · G employment letter and pay records · H documentation of the reason · I any written notice sent before the violation.

[Bearden] showing (if nonpayment)

Financial affidavit · proof of income or benefits · monthly budget · payment history.
Court asked to inquire into why, find willfulness, and — if non-willful — consider alternatives.

Disposition plan brought in writing

Treatment bed with a confirmed start date and the intake coordinator's name and number.
Employer letter stating the job is held and for how long.
Sponsor or counselor present in the courtroom.
Proposed order: condition to add · sanction to accept · schedule to set.
Statutory technical violation cap cited, where the state has one.

Phase 11 — Early termination

Eligibility date reached (federal: one year; state varies).
Officer consulted first, and asked what they would need to see.
Motion attaches: compliance record · all negative tests · employment letter and pay records · proof of stable housing · certificates · payment history or satisfaction.
A concrete reason stated — a job requiring travel, a licensing application, a caregiving obligation.
Framing: the purposes of supervision have been served; risk is concentrated early and is low after sustained compliance.
Earned compliance credit asked about separately — often statutory and often unapplied.

Phase 12 — Termination

Certified copy of the termination order obtained and kept permanently.
Zero balance confirmed in writing; satisfaction of judgment obtained for restitution.
Rights restored: voting (re-register — rarely automatic) · jury service · licensing · firearms analyzed carefully and never assumed.
Record relief clock started — eligibility usually runs from completion of the sentence, which is now. See Clearing Your Criminal Record.