Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

You need to go to the surrender hearing with a plan. When you are on probation there are terms that you agree to complete before your probation ends. It sounds like one of those terms for you was community service. If you have not completed the community service a judge may allow you more time (depending on the circumstances of your particular case). If you are well short of the agreed upon hours, you should either try like hell to complete as many as you can before your hearing. If you are close but just shy of finishing the hours you may be allowed more time. As always I would suggest you consider consulting an attorney prior to your hearing. Make sure you can provide them with all the relevant details of your particular matter if you do.

At a surrender hearing, a judge has 4 options: first, to give you a warning and allow the probation to remain as it was, meaning -- you'll still have time to complete your comm serv. The second option that the judge has it to modify the terms of your probation, like extending it for longer than one year or adding additional requirements like classes, programs, or more community service. The third option that the judge has is to just end your probation -- this is rare but may happen if the year is almost up and if you are very close to to completing your 100 hours, for instance, you did 97. The final option is to revoke your probation, meaning take away the CWOF, enter a conviction on the record, and impose any other sentence that the law allows. An assault and battery allows up to a maximum of 2.5 years in jail, but the court is not required to impose the maximum. The judge may still give you more probation, but with a conviction on the record. Good luck.

I agree that you need a good explanation for what you failed to do, and a plan of action to complete the hours of service.