Facing a Treatment Court Termination and a Backup Sentence

Attorney Answer

Termination does not automatically mean you serve the four years — but it can, and the hearing is where that is decided, so what you do before it matters far more than what you say at it.

When someone is removed from a Missouri treatment court, what normally follows is a probation-violation disposition, and that is governed by § 559.036 RSMo. On a finding that you violated a condition of probation, § 559.036.3 permits the court to continue you on your existing conditions, with or without modifying or enlarging them, and with or without extending the term. Section 559.036.4 provides that, unless you consent to revocation, where continuation or modification is not appropriate the court shall order placement in a Department of Corrections 120-day programme for qualifying offences.

That is the part worth holding onto: revoking probation and executing the sentence already imposed is not the only outcome the statute makes available. It is one of several, and the court chooses among them.

What I cannot tell you is whether the four-year figure itself can change. That depends on how your sentence was structured — whether execution of a four-year sentence was suspended, or whether imposition of sentence was suspended and no number is yet fixed. Ask your lawyer to tell you which one you have, in those words. It changes what is on the table.

What you can do

1. Get a lawyer before the hearing. If you cannot afford one, ask the court to appoint counsel now, not on the day. 2. Obtain the written allegations — exactly which violations are claimed, with dates — and the evidence behind them. You cannot answer allegations you have not seen. 3. Build the record in the time you have left: negative tests, treatment attendance sheets, sponsor or counsellor letters, proof of employment, proof of stable housing. Evidence gathered after the hearing is worth very little. 4. Ask your lawyer specifically about the options in § 559.036.3 — continuing on modified or enlarged conditions — and about the 120-day programme in § 559.036.4. 5. Understand before the hearing what consenting to revocation would mean, since § 559.036.4 is written to apply unless you consent. Do not agree to anything that has not been explained to you. 6. Appear on time and sober, and test clean between now and then. Nothing argued at the hearing will outweigh a fresh positive test.

⏱ Time limits apply. Your termination hearing is the deadline that governs everything here. The options in § 559.036 are argued at that hearing, on the record built before it, and a decision to execute a sentence is far harder to undo afterwards than to influence beforehand. The date is on your notice — work backwards from it.