Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

I pled guilty to misdemeanor false pretenses 13 months ago. My probation was extended for an additional 12 months, to reach the maximum allowed in my state of Michigan of 24 months, due to not paying off the restitution. I make regular payments (these are student loans) but have a balance of about 24k. My probation officer told me once the 24 months is reached, my probation will end but my case will remain open and she will monitor to ensure I'm still making payments. I don't exactly know what that means. Once the 24 months is up, can I still be arrested or violate probation or is it something different? I have every intention of paying (I've actually been paying on these loans for 6 years, LONG before any of the court stuff even happened) but I don't know what "case remaining open" means.


Asked on 12/31/14, 8:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Neil O'Brien Eaton County Special Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

You can only be on formal probation for 24 months for this misdemeanor. But part of the file and part of your criminal judgment of sentence is your restitution debt. The crime victims' rights act says that this restitution debt remains open until it is paid in full ... there is no expiration date ... and there can be enforcement action taken against you to force payment even after probation ends (e.g., judgment debtor's examination, garnishment, etc.), and this happens within the criminal case file. So at least to that extent it is true that your "case remains open" even after probation ends. There is also some case law authority that the criminal case's judge has contempt powers over you after probation ends if you are not paying on this unpaid debt.

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Answered on 1/05/15, 5:54 am


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