Here is a list of places where you can do court-ordered community service in Missouri. Some are located only in the St. Louis area, but many can be found throughout Missouri.
- Animal Protective Association (APA)
- Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
- Habitat For Humanity
- Open Door Animal Sanctuary in House Springs, MO
- LongMeadow Rescue Ranch in Union, MO – outdoor work feeding horses and other animals, cleaning stalls
- Tandy Community Center in St. Louis
- Operation Food Search in St. Louis
- St. Louis Food Outreach
- Loaves & Fishes in Maryland Heights, MO – assemble food baskets for needy people
- Home Sweet Home – provide furniture and household goods for needy people
- Disabled Athlete Sports Association (DASA)
- Angels’ Arms
- Library
- Church
- School
- Community Center
- Homeless Shelter
- Food Pantry
- Soup Kitchen
- Animal Rescue/Animal Shelter
WHAT IS COURT-ORDERED COMMUNITY SERVICE?
Community service is volunteer work that you do without pay for a legitimate charitable, non-profit organization.
When community service is court-ordered, it means a judge has required you to do it. It is usually part of a plea bargain deal that your attorney has negotiated with the Prosecutor on your behalf. The judge may have sentenced you to do community service as punishment for committing a crime, or the judge may allow you to do community service instead of going to jail or paying a fine.
Community service in Missouri can be ordered in cases where the defendant received a simple traffic ticket, or for more serious criminal offenses.
NOT ALL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS WILL ACCEPT YOU AS A VOLUNTEER
Some non-profit organizations won’t accept court-ordered community service volunteers. Others might accept you even if it’s court-ordered, as long as the underlying criminal offense did not involve stealing or drug possession.
For example, the YMCA and the Humane Society do not accept volunteers for court-ordered community service in Missouri at their St. Louis locations.
HOW TO FIND A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS
- Choose a few non-profit charitable organizations where you are interested in volunteering
- Call or go online to the organization’s website to ask if they need volunteer workers. You may have to register online and wait a few days for a response.
- You might be required to agree to a criminal background check
- Ask in advance if the organization will give you a letter on their letterhead proving that you completed the community service hours
- If your community service is court-ordered, send the letter proving you completed the hours to the court (or to your attorney) before your next court date
PLEASE NOTE: There may be a lot of other people wanting to do volunteer work at the same charity where you have applied. So, don’t wait until the weekend before your court date to start looking for a place where you can do community service.
WHAT KIND OF WORK IS REQUIRED WHEN DOING COMMUNITY SERVICE IN MISSOURI?
Many people fear “Community Service” means they will have to pick up trash along the highway. Fortunately, there are many charities that would welcome your help, and the work varies in degrees of difficulty:
Here are some examples of the type of work you might do when volunteering for community service in Missouri:
- Animal Shelter – clean cat litter boxes and walk dogs
- Horse Rescue – clean out barn stalls, feed horses
- Community Center – computer/office work, help with children’s summer activity programs
- Food Pantry at a Local Church – help stock shelves with food donations
OTHER WAYS TO GET CREDIT FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE IN MISSOURI
Some courts in St. Charles County, Missouri give community service credit to defendants who donate blood to the Red Cross.
Other courts have given defendants community service credit for each Thanksgiving turkey they donate to a charity during the month of November.
HOW TO PROVE THAT YOU COMPLETED COMMUNITY SERVICE
If you are doing community service because it’s court-ordered, do the following:
- Request a letter on the charity’s letterhead stating that you completed the community service hours
- Send the letter of proof to your attorney before the court date, or
- If you don’t have an attorney, bring the proof to court to show to the judge on your court date
- Some judges may let you mail your proof of completion of community service to the court clerk before your court date
HOW TO FIND OUT IF THE JUDGE WILL ACCEPT YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE
Your attorney can give you suggestions for where to do community service in your area.
If you don’t have an attorney, ask the court clerk or your probation officer for a list of approved charitable organizations.
RESTRICTIONS ON WHERE YOU CAN DO COMMUNITY SERVICE IN MISSOURI
In most courts, the judge will let you do court-ordered community service in any city or state. You are usually not required to do the volunteer work in the same city where your case is being prosecuted.
You can split up the total hours among several different charities if that works better for you.
CONSEQUENCES OF FAILING TO COMPLETE COURT-ORDERED COMMUNITY SERVICE BY THE COURT DATE
For many people, community service is a requirement of a plea bargain deal, or it might be a condition of their probation. If you fail to complete the community service, that’s a violation of the plea bargain deal and/or a violation of your probation.
- The Prosecutor could withdraw their plea bargain offer if you fail to do the required community service, and the judge will sentence you for the original offense.
- The Prosecutor could file a motion to revoke your probation. There would be a hearing before the judge, who could revoke your probation and sentence you for the original offense.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE BY THE DEADLINE?
- Don’t miss your court date
- Go to court on your court date and explain to the judge why you failed to complete the community service hours
- Ask the judge for more time to complete the community service
If you have an attorney representing you, they may be able to request a continuance of your court date to give you more time to complete community service.
Most judges will work with you as long as you have made a good-faith attempt to do most of the community service hours by the court date. However, the judge does not have to give you a continuance of your court date.
