PROBATION SUPERVISION
The Washoe County Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS) was established in December of 2005 and approved by the Board of County Commissioners under the authority of Nevada Revised Statute 211A (http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-211A.html). DAS was designed to provide supervision to people whose sentences have been suspended and during criminal proceedings it was determined supervision and case management are key to the person successfully completing the requirements of the court.
The following is a list of the common possible requirements, depending on court orders and individual needs based on a risk and need assessment. Failing to comply with court orders or program requirements may result in more stringent supervision, extended term of probation, community service, a bench warrant being issued, incarceration, or revocation of the suspended sentence.
- Defendants must be under court order to participate. Probation is a condition of a suspended sentence or an order for pretrial supervision.
- Participants must complete an orientation which includes an explanation of the court conditions and probation and testing requirements.
- Personal check-ins are required on a set schedule, which include random alcohol and drug tests, where they are participants of our Sober 24 program.
- Participants are required to pay monthly supervision fees and/or testing fees.
- Some court orders include a number of community service hours.
- Payment of all court-ordered fines, fees, and restitution are required.
- Subjects of our program are subject to search and seizure and officers conduct random visits to their homes and places of employment.
- Counseling for domestic violence cases or driving under the influences cases is usually required.
- Electronic monitoring is sometimes required.
- Victim Impact Panels are often ordered by the courts.
- DAS requires probationers to be employed or in school and must provide proof or proof of job searching.
SOBER 24 DRUG TESTING FACILITY
In July of 2016, Sober 24 was created with the collaborative efforts of the Sheriff's Office, Human Services, and Catholic Charities. The program goal was to provide drug and alcohol testing services based on evidence based practices to ensure that program participants remained sober 24 hours a day, every day of the week. DAS was invited to use the services of Sober 24 to have their probationers tested regularly. It was decided by the County Manager that the Sober 24 program be controlled by and marked a division of DAS.
During the first full year in 2017, there were over 2,100 participants in the Sober 24 program and just over 35,000 tests were conducted. This included mostly DAS probationers, adults being tested under the authority of Child Protective Services, and some courtesy cases from other local courts. Since then, we have contracted with District Court Specialty Courts, Pre-Trial Services, and several other agencies. In 2020, Sober 24 conducted more than 71,600 tests.