Governator Says Hasta La Vista to Penal Code 4019 County Jail Half-Time Credits

Penal Code 4019 has been amended yet again by Statute, with Governor Schwarzenegger signing SB 76 into law effective September 29, 2010. The recent amendment to Penal Code 4019 repeals half-time credit for county jail sentences and restores the previous standard of 1/3 credits. For the past 6 months, defendants sentenced to county jail only had to serve 50% or "half-time" of their sentence before being released. Those sentenced to a county year served an actual total of only 6 months custody. With the recent change in law, the same defendant sentenced to a year in county will have to serve 8 months. This change in law affects only those defendants sentenced to county jail. Defendants sentenced to state prison, for offenses not deemed "serious" and/or "violent" still get half-time credit toward their state prison sentence.

The provisions of this amendment will apply to: "prisoners who are confined to a county jail, city jail, industrial farm, or road camp for a crime that was committed on or after the effective date of that act" Penal Code 4019(g), meaning defendants whose date of offense was prior to September 29, 2010 will still receive the benefit of half-time credits. If the defendant's offense was committed on or after September 30, 2010, then he or she will be subject to the new law and only receive 1/3 credits. So if you plan on breaking the law after today, get ready for overcrowded jails again and more actual days served for county jail offenses. Half Time Credits - You Have Been Terminated!