Where are the Community Service servers?

deandean

I was reading a court case yesterday and the judge ordered the defendant to do 240h community service.

There must be hundreds of thousands of hours of CS handed down every year.

I have never once come across anyone doing CS in my communitY.

Does anyone know what people actually do on CS?

I guess there is a log book or something where your hours are recorded.

Losty Dublin

They will be just about anywhere where there's voluntary work going on. Meals on Wheels, youth clubs, soup kitchens, youths sports, old folks homes, animal welfare groups, church groups, community groups; you name it they have community service candidates on duty. You probably don't have them pointed out to you for obvious reasons.

Fakediamond

They pick up a lot of street litter and clean graffiti in housing estates. A lot of community organisations won't take them because of their convictions and they can't work in places with children or vulnerable people as they can't get Garda clearance!!

Penny Tration

Someone in my local area doing it. He walks dogs that belong to elderly people who can't do it anymore. He's out at about 7am each morning with six dogs, and seems to be enjoying it too. I've never seen him miss a day doing it in the couple of months since I first saw him.

Losty Dublin

Fakediamond wrote: »

They pick up a lot of street litter and clean graffiti in housing estates. A lot of community organisations won't take them because of their convictions and they can't work in places with children or vulnerable people as they can't get Garda clearance!!

Many of those who are doing community service do so at the "suggestion" of a judge in other to avoid convictions.

Fakediamond

Actually it is a conviction and only offered in lieu of a prison sentence, so if you don't do the C.S. you do the prison sentence. It's not always the easy option that offenders think it is when they agree to it, although of course it is preferable to prison for most people.

Losty Dublin

Fakediamond wrote: »

Actually it is a conviction and only offered in lieu of a prison sentence, so if you don't do the C.S. you do the prison sentence. It's not always the easy option that offenders think it is when they agree to it, although of course it is preferable to prison for most people.

There are and have been cases where judges suggests that service be done in order to avoid a conviction. Once the judge is satisfied that the work has been don they dispose of the matter under the Probation Act.

Fakediamond

To be considered for C.S. you must first be convicted of an offence, where a term of imprisonment would be considered an appropriate sentence, you may then be offered the option of completing a period of C.S.in lieu of that sentence, if you are deemed suitable by the Probation Service. It's set out in the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act, 1983. No avoiding a conviction, I'm afraid.