It's common for judges to order people convicted of DUIs to complete several hours of community service. Although this can help a person escape jail time, sometimes it may be difficult for an individual to complete the required volunteer work due to lifestyle conflicts or a lack of opportunities. If you're having a hard time getting your service hours in, here are a couple of things you can do to resolve the issue.
Enroll in Virtual Volunteering
Many times the reason people have difficulty completing their community services hours is because of transportation issues. Getting to and from the volunteer site may prove too challenging, particularly for those who had their licenses revoked due to their DUI convictions.
An alternative option to doing your community service hours at a physical site is to see if the courts will let you do virtual volunteering. This type of volunteering is done over the internet and can involve anything from completing data entry work to helping charities fundraise by making calls to potential donors. Since the work is done online (or over the phone), you can complete it anywhere you have access to a computer or telephone and anytime you're available.
Unfortunately, this option may not be available in all jurisdictions, and you typically must obtain approval before signing up for this type of community service. Contact your attorney about whether the court accepts virtual volunteering to avoid wasting your time and effort on something that'll ultimately be rejected.
Buy Out Community Service Hours
If completing community service is absolutely impossible for you, one way you can eliminate it altogether is to pay for the hours. Many courts provide defendants with the option to buy community service hours. Essentially, you would pay a fee per hour of community service and the number of hours you purchased would be deducted from the total amount you need to serve.
For instance, you are sentenced to 10 hours of community service but you buy out 3. You would only need to complete 7 hours of onsite or online service to fulfill your obligation.
The amount charged to buy hours varies from state to state, and you may be limited in the number of hours you can purchase. You may only be able to buy out up to 50 percent of your community service hours, for example. Either talk to your attorney about this option or look up the buy out requirements online for your jurisdiction to figure out how the program works and the best way to use it to achieve your end goal.
For more information about this issue or help with a DUI case, contact DUI attorneys like Kevin T Conway Esq Pc.
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