A PTI program, short for pre-trial intervention, is a supervised alternative to prosecution that lets an eligible defendant complete a set of conditions in exchange for having the criminal charges dismissed. It is aimed primarily at first-time offenders facing non-violent charges, and completing it means you avoid a conviction entirely. The tradeoff matters: you waive constitutional rights to enter, you pay significant fees, and if you fail, the case returns to court with you in a weaker position than when you started.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility is narrow by design, and the prosecutor’s office controls the gate. You generally need to be a first-time offender with no significant criminal history. A prior felony conviction or any previous participation in a diversion program will disqualify you in most jurisdictions. Even a prior misdemeanor can knock you out depending on local rules.
The charge matters as much as the background. PTI is built for non-violent offenses like theft, simple drug possession, fraud, and property crimes. At the federal level, the Department of Justice excludes anyone accused of offenses involving sexual abuse or child exploitation, serious bodily injury or death, firearms, violations of public trust by government officials, national security threats, or leadership roles in criminal organizations or violent gangs.1U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-22.000 – Pretrial Diversion Program State programs follow a similar pattern, with specific exclusions that vary.
DUI charges are a common point of confusion. Many jurisdictions bar impaired driving offenses from diversion, but several states including Florida, Georgia, and Texas have created PTI tracks specifically for DUI defendants. Whether a DUI qualifies depends entirely on where you were charged.
If your case involves a victim, the prosecutor will typically contact that person to gauge their view of diversion. A strong objection can sink an otherwise solid application.
What You Give Up to Enter
This is the part most people don’t fully appreciate until they’ve already signed. Entering PTI requires you to waive your right to a speedy trial. The court cannot hold your case open for months or years of supervision while also honoring a constitutional obligation to try you quickly. Under the federal Speedy Trial Act, time spent in a diversion program is explicitly excluded from the clock.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3161 – Time Limits and Exclusions State programs achieve the same result through written waivers in the participation agreement.
You also agree to toll the statute of limitations on the charged offense. In plain terms, the legal deadline for the government to prosecute you freezes while you’re in the program. If you fail out two years later, the prosecutor can pick up where they left off as if no time passed. This is not a minor detail. Without the waiver, charges could expire while you were in the program and give you an automatic escape hatch. The government closes that door before you walk through it.
Most PTI programs are “pre-plea,” meaning you do not enter a guilty plea to participate. Charges have been filed or could be filed, but you are diverted before any adjudication of guilt. That is one of the central advantages: if you complete the program, there was never a guilty plea on record. Some jurisdictions run “post-plea” programs where you plead guilty first and the conviction is later vacated upon completion. Those carry considerably more risk. If a program is offered to you, the first thing to confirm with your attorney is whether a plea is required.
What the Program Requires
Once you’re in, expect a structured set of conditions lasting anywhere from six months to three years, depending on the jurisdiction and the seriousness of the charge. These are not suggestions. Missing any requirement can get you removed. Common conditions include:
- Regular check-ins with a supervising officer, similar to probation.
- Random drug and alcohol testing, especially if substance use played a role in the offense.
- Community service hours at an approved organization.
- Counseling or education, which may mean substance abuse treatment, anger management, theft awareness, or mental health counseling.
- Full restitution to any victim who suffered financial harm, usually on a schedule set by your supervising officer.
- No new arrests. A new charge during the program is grounds for immediate removal.
Travel restrictions catch people off guard. You generally need permission to leave your supervision district, which often means filing a formal request with an itinerary well in advance. A last-minute weekend trip across state lines without approval can count as a violation.
What It Costs
PTI is not free. Most programs charge an application fee (commonly around $100), a separate participation fee upon acceptance (often $250 or more), and in many jurisdictions, monthly supervision fees that can run from under $100 to several hundred dollars for the duration of the program. On top of those, you pay separately for required counseling sessions, classes, or treatment. Restitution to any victim is additional.
Some jurisdictions also charge a separate filing fee when you later petition for expungement. Added together, a 12-month PTI program with counseling and supervision fees can easily run $1,500 to $3,000 or more. Programs typically don’t refund fees if you fail out or withdraw. Budget for the full amount before you commit, because falling behind on payments can itself become a compliance violation.
What Completion Gets You
If you meet every condition, the prosecutor dismisses the original charges. In state programs, dismissal is the standard outcome.1U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Manual 9-22.000 – Pretrial Diversion Program A dismissal means you were not convicted. You can legally answer “no” to questions asking whether you have been convicted of a crime.
Here is the catch that trips people up: dismissal does not erase the arrest from your record. Your arrest, the original charges, and the court records from the PTI process remain visible on background checks until you take the separate step of petitioning for expungement or record sealing. Completing PTI makes you eligible to file that petition in most jurisdictions, but you have to do it yourself, usually with another filing fee, and sometimes after a waiting period. The court then decides whether sealing your record serves the interests of justice.
Until that petition goes through, an arrest for theft or drug possession will show up on employment background checks even though the charges were dismissed. If clearing your record matters to you, treat the expungement petition as the final step of PTI, not an afterthought.
What Failure Costs You
Termination is immediate. The original charges are reinstated and the case returns to the court’s active calendar. Because you waived your speedy trial rights and tolled the statute of limitations when you entered, there are no procedural defenses waiting for you.
Your bargaining position is also worse than before you entered. The prosecutor gave you a chance and you didn’t follow through, and that history colors every plea conversation that follows. The most common triggers for termination are failing a drug test, picking up a new criminal charge, missing check-ins, or falling behind on fees and restitution. If any of those risks are realistic for your situation, weigh them honestly before accepting the offer.
How PTI Differs From Deferred Adjudication
These terms get used interchangeably in casual conversation, but they describe different mechanisms with different risk levels. Pre-trial intervention and pretrial diversion are generally the same thing: you are diverted before entering any plea, and successful completion dismisses the charges with no conviction on record.
Deferred adjudication works differently. You typically plead guilty or no contest first, and the court holds off on entering a formal judgment of guilt while you complete similar conditions. If you succeed, the conviction may be vacated or the charges reduced. If you fail, you have already pleaded guilty, and the court can proceed directly to sentencing without a trial. The stakes of failure are significantly higher. Ask your attorney which type of program you are actually being offered.
Can You Use PTI More Than Once
Almost certainly not. The overwhelming majority of programs limit participation to one time. If you completed PTI for a shoplifting charge five years ago and now face a new misdemeanor, the prosecutor’s office will see that prior diversion and treat it as a disqualifier. The premise of PTI is a second chance for a one-time mistake. A second arrest undermines that premise regardless of how much time has passed. A few jurisdictions carve out narrow exceptions, but counting on that flexibility would be a mistake.