What is a probation surrender?
A. In a nutshell, a probation surrender, or probation revocation, is a formal hearing process that occurs only after a defendant probationer is placed on either supervised or administrative (unsupervised) probation and it is thereafter alleged by the probation department that the probationer has somehow violated one or more of the terms and conditions of probation. In Massachusetts, the probation department typically notifies a probationer by sending a document entitled Notice of Probation Violation and Hearing to the probationer’s last known address. This notice provides a cursory description of the alleged violation(s) and orders the probationer to appear before the court on a specific date and time. A defendant probationer has a right to legal counsel at all stages of the probation surrender. Witnesses, whom will certainly consist of at least the probation officer and perhaps the defendant, proffer sworn testimony and are subject to both direct and cross-examination. Unlike with tri
