A noncompliance report does not end your diversion by itself. Under Penal Code 1000.3, only the prosecutor, the probation department, or the court on its own can move to terminate pretrial diversion, and after notice to you the court must hold a hearing to decide whether to terminate. That hearing is where an inaccurate report gets challenged.

Diversion ends through a motion, notice, and a hearing, not a provider’s phone call

Pretrial diversion under Penal Code section 1000 is not automatically canceled because a treatment provider files a report you disagree with. Section 1000.3(a) allows a termination motion only from the prosecuting attorney, the probation department, or the court itself, and only where it appears you are performing unsatisfactorily in the assigned program, were convicted of an offense reflecting a propensity for violence, or were convicted of a felony. A provider’s report is evidence that might support such a motion; it is not the motion, and it is not a ruling.

Once a motion is made, section 1000.3(b) requires notice to you, and the court “shall hold a hearing to determine whether pretrial diversion shall be terminated.” If the court finds unsatisfactory performance or a disqualifying conviction, section 1000.3(c) sends the case to further proceedings, which means the criminal case picks up again. A report does not turn into a conviction: diversion under current law begins with a not-guilty plea, and Penal Code 1000.1(d) says taking part in diversion is not a conviction or an admission of guilt for any purpose. The written advisement the prosecutor must give you before diversion describes the same path: under section 1000.1(a)(4), after a program failure or a 1000.3 circumstance, the prosecutor, probation, or the court “may make a motion” to terminate and schedule further proceedings.

The hearing is where you contest the report

Because termination requires a court finding, the 1000.3 hearing is the concrete opportunity to show the report was wrong or incomplete. That can include your own attendance and testing records, correspondence with the program, documentation of a scheduling or paperwork error, or evidence that the claimed noncompliance was outside your control. The court still weighs that evidence against the report and decides; no particular result is automatic.

Section 1000.3(e) adds a separate check: before the court terminates diversion or dismisses your charges, it must consider your ability to pay and whether you have paid any diversion restitution fee that was ordered and met any financial obligation to the program. If unpaid fees are part of what is being called noncompliance, your ability to pay is a question the court has to weigh in its own right, apart from whether you broke a treatment condition.

If the problem is really the program placement

Diversion referrals can go only to a program certified by the county drug program administrator or, if it provides services at no cost to you, one the court and the county drug program administrator have deemed credible and effective, and under Penal Code 1000(c) you may ask to be referred to a qualifying program in any county. The court, not the provider, makes the final determination about treatment (section 1000.1(b)). So if the real issue is a breakdown with this specific provider rather than your own compliance, a request for a different qualifying program goes to the court, usually through your attorney, and if a termination motion is already pending, the placement problem is part of what you can explain at the hearing. The statute does not give you a right to switch providers on your own whenever you want.

What to do if this happens to you

  • Read the notice carefully and confirm who is moving to terminate (prosecutor, probation, or the court) and on what stated ground.
  • Do not skip or ignore the hearing date; that is where the court decides whether the report holds up.
  • Before the hearing, pull together your own attendance sheets, test results, receipts, and any program correspondence that contradicts the report, and let your attorney present them.
  • If cost or fees are part of the dispute, tell your attorney; the court must separately consider your ability to pay before terminating or dismissing.
  • Ask your attorney whether the real problem is the placement rather than your own conduct, and whether asking the court for a different qualifying program makes sense on your facts.
  • Note where you are in the 12 to 18 month diversion period under Penal Code 1000.2(c). The court must grant your request for more time to finish the program when you show good cause, which is a separate option from fighting a termination motion.

If you are enrolled in PC 1000 diversion and a provider’s report does not match what actually happened, or you want to understand how drug diversion programs handle a disputed violation more broadly, attorneys at the Law Offices of David S. Chesley can go over the report and the notice with you before your hearing. Call (800) 755-5174.