Read your signed misdemeanor diversion agreement first. It identifies the conditions selected for your case and the dates for enrollment, progress, and completion hearings. If the court set an enrollment hearing, the county’s posted protocol calls for proof of enrollment; filing it at least five court days before the hearing may allow the hearing to be taken off calendar. Confirm that the court actually removed the hearing before deciding you need not appear. Keep copies of the proof and every later notice. (San Luis Obispo Superior Court agreement; court misdemeanor-diversion protocol)
Make a schedule from the signed agreement
The court’s current local-forms index links an agreement revised January 9, 2026. It provides spaces for a diversion term of six months, twelve months, or another period up to the statutory limit, plus separate enrollment, progress, and completion dates. The checked boxes and initials identify the program or other conditions selected in the individual case. Read those entries, the signature page, and any attached order; do not treat every option printed on the form as your obligation.
Write down the enrollment deadline and hearing date exactly as entered. Contact the named program promptly, ask what it requires to enroll, and save a dated confirmation that identifies you and the program. If enrollment is delayed, record whom you contacted and when, and tell counsel before the court date. A registration request alone may not show that the required program accepted you.
What should happen at the enrollment hearing?
The posted court protocol describes an enrollment hearing roughly two weeks after the grant when one is set. It gives two possible paths: counsel may appear with proof under Penal Code section 977 where that appearance is permitted, or proof may be filed at least five court days before the hearing so it can be removed from calendar. Ask counsel which path applies to your case and how the proof must be filed. Do not assume a mailed document, an email to a program, or an attorney appearance substitutes for a court filing or your required appearance.
After filing, check the docket or confirm with the clerk or counsel that the hearing was actually vacated. If it remains on calendar, follow the court’s appearance instructions. Keep the filed proof and any confirmation of a calendar change with your signed agreement.
Enrollment is only the first checkpoint
The agreement can set later progress and completion hearings. Save attendance, treatment, payment, or other compliance records that match your checked conditions, and ask before each hearing what proof the court expects. If a problem arises, address it before the hearing rather than assuming completion can be shown at the end. The protocol also describes a noncompliance process; under Penal Code section 1001.95, reinstatement requires notice and an opportunity for a hearing. The same statute provides for dismissal when the defendant complies with diversion conditions; enrollment by itself does not complete diversion.
For these steps, confirm that section 1001.95 diversion has actually been granted. The court protocol was issued in 2021, and its older eligibility guidance should not be used instead of the current statute. A drug charge does not automatically qualify. If restitution is one of your conditions, Penal Code section 1001.96 also matters: full restitution is required for dismissal, but indigence alone cannot justify denying diversion or finding noncompliance.
The Law Offices of David S. Chesley’s San Luis Obispo criminal defense page provides local practice context. For help checking the signed agreement, proof, and hearing dates in your case, call (800) 755-5174.