Can a judge sentence me to ARD without the District Attorneys consent?
No. ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) is a criminal disposition involving fines, probation and/or other non-prison penalties (safe driving school, community service) available for many first time offenders as to non-violent offenses. The most common ARD is for a first offense of drunk driving. ARD is not considered a conviction and the charges are dismissed upon completion of the probation and the other terms. Consequently, as a non-conviction, the record of the arrest is subject to expungement. ARD is entirely at the discretion of the County District Attorney. A District Attorney in one county can offer ARD for a category of crime where an adjacent county would not offer ARD. A Judge can not sentence a Defendant to ARD without the District Attorney’s consent. The District Attorney can withhold their consent for any reason or no reason such as the reason, “I’m tough on crime so re-elect me to office.” The Judge can sentence to “Section 17” for certain drug offenses without t
