4 Common Alternatives to Jail Time in Orange County

If you are facing a case which carries with it some mandatory jail time; going into custody and serving the sentence inside Orange County Jail is not a forgone conclusion. There are many options and avenues that an experienced Orange County criminal defense lawyer can pursue to help you avoid having to go physically in-custody and serving out your sentence in a cell. These options are not all-inclusive; some offenses, including violent crimes and sex offenses will usually be disqualifiers to non-jail alternatives. Here is a break down of the alternatives to jail in Orange County.

CAL TRANS

There are lot of times when jail is required as part of a sentence. An example- Vehicle Code Section 14601.2, driving on a suspended license for a DUI- this carries with a 10 day minimum sentence in county jail. What a lawyer could do is have the DA give you an offer where the jail sentence is suspended and you do 10 days of Cal Trans work in Lieu of Jail. This option would allow an individual to avoid going into jail, and he or she could work off the 10 day sentence by doing Cal Trans work on the weekends. Cal Trans involves working along the freeway, picking up trash and doing manual labor.

COURT WORK PROGRAM

This program, if your lawyer can talk the DA and Judge into recommending it, is a work program run by the OC Sheriff’s Department. Let’s say you have a felony charge for possession of stolen property and the DA wants 30 days of county jail. If the DA and Judge agree not to oppose it, a defendant can apply to the sheriff’s department before the turn-in date and if that person has a relatively minor record free from violent offenses, they most likely will be accepted. This program runs like Cal Trans however you would work around the jail facility, 2 to 3 days a week, doing manual labor. After 30 days (a day = an 8 hour work day) the 30 day jail sentence would be deemed complete.

PAY TO STAY

This program is a little different then the other two above in that you would be staying at a jail. However it wouldn't be Orange County Jail. This is a program which is run by local city jails. Newport Beach City Jail, Fullerton City Jail, Seal Beach PD Jail, etc. What happens here is that an individual pays to stay in the city jail from 6pm to 6am. The individual is allowed to be out of the jail during the day. This allows them to keep their job and continue to work. Like the other programs, a violent crime, or record or sex offenses will likely be a disqualifier.

ELECTRONIC HOME CONFINEMENT

This alternative tends to be the most attractive to a lot of people. In this method, a phone monitoring system along with an ankle bracelet allows an individual to serve out their sentence at home. It allows for that person to be out of their house during their work hours. This is helpful on a case such as a second time DUI- in which the Orange County DA’s office usually seeks 60 days of jail time. This alternative, done thru the Orange County Probation Department, would allow someone to maintain their job, and serve out their 60 day sentence at home.

If you or a loved one are facing county jail time contact the experienced Orange County criminal defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich. We’ve have been helping criminal defendants for over 40 years. Call us at (888) 280-6839 or visit us at www.wklaw.com

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