The Definition of TASC Probation and How You Can Use it to Help Your Case
By Dan Noll on August 8th, 2016 in Articles, General
TASC probation is a special form of probation that can have huge positive consequences for a criminal defendant in Illinois. TASC, which stands for Treating Alternatives for Safer Communities, is a special form of probation whereby if the probationer completes everything that is required of them, ultimately the judge would enter an order dismissing the felony conviction.
To fully understand TASC, you have to begin at the initial parts of the case. Number one, a individual has to have a eligible charge against them, or their attorney needs to work out an agreement with the state’s attorney’s office to have their charge reduced to something that would make their case TASC-eligible. Secondly, the individual needs to be evaluated by TASC. What TASC looks for is a nexus between the criminal offense and drug use. For example, if I stole a bunch of stuff from Wal-Mart to feed or support my heroin addiction, I would go into TASC. They would evaluate me, and say, “Mr. Noll had a heroin addiction, and because of this, he was stealing. Thus, there is a nexus between the criminal offense-” that would be my stealing of stuff from Wal-Mart, “-and the drug use,” my heroin addiction.
If a person is recommended for TASC, and the state’s attorney’s office agrees to it, the person would be placed on probation. They would be required to complete their drug treatment and standard other conditions of probation- For example, not committing any other additional criminal offense, not possessing a weapon, those types of things. At the end of that 2-year period of TASC, the judge would enter an order saying, “This conviction is now vacated,” and that person is no longer a convicted felon, assuming this was the only offense they had.
The other thing that it allows you to do is 5 years from the end of your probation, you are then allowed to expunge your criminal record, meaning that all of the physical records of your arrest, the police reports, anything related to that case can be destroyed. TASC probation has a huge benefit at the end of everything, at the end of your probation, and later on, which can really set up a person for a much better life when they made a mistake or a couple mistakes. It can be a huge benefit to those people.
If you or anybody else you know has been arrested for a crime in Springfield, Illinois or Jacksonville, Illinois, or anywhere else that is looking for TASC probation, have them give our office a call, and we would be happy to sit down and talk with them.