Useful Public Service

Overview

The Delta County Useful Public Service Program is a program that monitors court-ordered useful public service (community service) hours, reporting to the courts on the completion, or non-compliance, of hours. The program is funded by the fees paid by the defendants to perform their hours.  The useful public service fee is due at sign up for defendants sentenced in Delta County, and the fee amount depends upon the sentencing Court and the number of hours.  The defendant must pay at least half of the useful public service fee before being issued a timesheet.

A defendant is sentenced in court, and the judge may order him/her to perform a required amount of hours. The defendant must then sign up with this program to perform his/her hours. Hours must be performed at a worksite assigned by this program. Many non-profit agencies, churches, senior programs, and government offices are available as worksites within every community in the county. If a defendant does his/her hours without signing up with this program, or does the hours at a worksite that is not authorized, the hours will not be accepted.

Summary of Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Defendant is sentenced and ordered to perform useful public service hours as part of his/her sentence.
  2. The defendant must register with this office to be assigned a worksite.
  3. Defendant is given paperwork to take to the assigned worksite. It is up to the defendant to schedule his/her own hours to work with the assigned worksite and work as scheduled. The worksite supervisor will monitor hours worked.
  4. Once all hours are completed, the worksite supervisor will sign paperwork. The defendant is then responsible for returning all paperwork to this office.
  5. This office will verify hours worked and report to the court upon completion of hours.
  6. If hours are not completed by the due date, a complaint is submitted to the court for non-compliance. A hearing will be scheduled for the defendant to appear before the judge. Defendant may be given an extension or be advised on the violations.

Inter-County Referrals

If a defendant is sentenced in a county outside of where he/she resides, the hours can be transferred to the local useful public service office. The defendant must register first with the sentencing county's useful public service office in order to have the hours transferred. For a list of all useful public service offices throughout Colorado, see the Colorado Alternative Sentencing Programs website.