Centre County ARD Program
The Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program is used in every county in Pennsylvania to resolve criminal charges in relatively minor misdemeanor cases such as DUI, Possession of a Small Amount of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Furnishing Alcohol to Minors, and Possession of a Fake ID.
While every county uses ARD, every county has different requirements and conditions. For example, with community service, some counties require that the service be completed in the county in which the crime occurred, but other counties will allow the service to be completed anywhere. In some counties, monthly face-to-face meetings with a probation officer are required, but, in other counties, ARD participants are able to call or email the assigned probation officer. For information about a particular county’s ARD program, a person should discuss the case with a criminal defense lawyer that has experience handling cases in that particular county. The State College criminal defense lawyers at JD Law have experience in handling ARD cases in Centre, Mifflin, Huntingdon, and Clinton counties.
The Centre County ARD program is generally separated between DUI and non-DUI cases, and the different types of cases are assigned to different probation officers. The Centre County ARD program for DUI and non-DUI cases both have the following standard conditions:
- period of supervision by the probation department – most cases are 12 to 24 months of supervision
- Completion of community service
- Payment of ARD costs and fees
Centre County ARD for DUI cases may also have the following conditions:
- suspension of driviing privileges
- 12.5 hour Alcohol Highway Safety School
- Alcohol counseling
- Completion of Addiction Awareness Program (AAP)
- No alcohol consumption provision