Joseph and Kendra Duggar have just caught a major legal break.
The former 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On stars will avoid prison in their Arkansas child endangerment case after a judge approved a one-year diversion arrangement that could ultimately make the charges against the couple disappear altogether.
But there is one very big catch: they have to stay out of trouble.
Joseph, 31, and Kendra, 28, withdrew their previous not-guilty pleas and submitted a plea by order rather than appearing for their scheduled August 10 court hearing. Their cases will now remain under advisement for 12 months.
If the couple complies with court and Arkansas Department of Human Services requirements, avoids further legal trouble and pays $1,850 in fines and fees, the charges are expected to be dismissed. A review is scheduled for August 2027.
That's a dramatic turnaround for a couple who only months ago were staring down multiple criminal charges.
Joseph and Kendra were each charged with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment following a March investigation involving police and the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Investigators reportedly discovered locks installed on the exterior of children's bedroom doors at the couple's Arkansas home.
The Duggars, who married in 2017 and have four children, initially pleaded not guilty.
Now their Arkansas legal nightmare could be over next year without prison time-provided they satisfy the conditions of the diversion agreement.
But for Joseph, there is a much darker legal cloud still hanging overhead.
His separate Florida child molestation case is very much alive.
Joseph was arrested in March over allegations involving a girl who was 9 years old at the time of the alleged incident during a 2020 Florida vacation. He has pleaded not guilty to the Florida charges and was released on $600,000 bond with restrictions that include no unsupervised contact with minors.
That case is entirely separate from the Arkansas proceedings involving Joseph and Kendra.
And unlike the Arkansas case, there is currently no diversion deal waiting for Joseph in Florida.
His next pretrial hearing is scheduled for September 15, meaning the former reality star's biggest legal battle may still be ahead of him.
The developments add another extraordinary chapter to the Duggar family's long fall from reality-TV fame.
Joseph is the seventh of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's 19 children, whose enormous conservative Christian family became a television phenomenon through TLC's 19 Kids and Counting. The franchise eventually collapsed amid scandals involving Joseph's older brother Josh Duggar, who was later convicted in federal court of receiving child sexual abuse material.
Now another Duggar son is facing serious allegations involving a child-allegations Joseph denies.
The situation has even fractured parts of the famously close-knit extended family. Some relatives publicly expressed shock following Joseph's arrest, while cousin Amy Duggar King said in July that she had spoken with Joseph's accuser and indicated that she was supporting the alleged victim rather than automatically defending her cousin.
For Kendra, meanwhile, the Arkansas diversion agreement potentially offers a path out of a case that has thrown her family's private life into very public turmoil.
But the couple isn't completely in the clear yet.
They have one year to satisfy the Arkansas court's conditions before the charges can be dismissed.
And while Joseph and Kendra may have found an exit ramp from one legal battle, Joseph's far more serious Florida case continues marching toward court.
