Sentence or Jail Credit

MCL 769.11b provides that whenever a person is convicted of any crime within this state and has been in jail prior to sentencing because of being denied or unable to furnish bond for the offense of which he is convicted, the trial court in imposing sentence shall specifically grant credit against the sentence for such time served in jail prior to sentencing.  The idea being to equalize the position of defendants unable to post bond with defendants financially able to post bond.

If a defendant is in another jail awaiting trial on unrelated charges, the Court of Appeals held in People v Shipp, 141 Mich App 610 (1985) that this calculation of ‘sentence or jail credit’ commences from the date upon which a hold is placed upon the defendant.

This right to ‘sentence or jail credit’, however, does not apply to defendants who are serving a jail (or prison) sentence after being sentenced in another case or to defendants who have a parole detainer/hold placed on them because of the alleged commission of a new felony while on parole.  The explanation being that the defendant is incarcerated regardless of whether (s)he would otherwise be eligible for bond before conviction on the new offense. Because the defendant is incarcerated regardless of whether (s)he is able to furnish bond for the new offense, the jail credit statute, supra, does not apply. People v Idziak, 484 Mich 549, 562 (2009).