If a Florida judge has sentenced you to probation, you should probably be grateful. It certainly beats the alternative sentencing of up to two years in county jail for a misdemeanor conviction or one year to life imprisonment in a state or federal penitentiary for a felony. While you may have dodged the proverbial bullet with probation, always keep in mind that, until its term expires, the alternative sentencing hangs over your head like the Sword of Damocles.

If you are one of the nearly 150,000 Floridians on probation, you are probably thankful that you are not one of the 80,000 or so inmates serving time in the state’s correctional institutions. Nevertheless, you are still under the supervision of the Florida Department of Corrections and subject to imprisonment and/or other penalties if you violate any terms and conditions of your probation. These terms and conditions tend to be exceptionally strict, which means that a simple mistake or error in judgment might lead to a violation of probation (VOP) and subsequent arrest.