Jail Credit in DWI Cases

Last week I got drawn into a discussion about a North Carolina local government official convicted of DWI. The question was whether he was getting “special treatment” when his 60-day sentences were cut in half to 30 days. As most readers of this blog know, there’s nothing special about that: most active DWI sentences (except for aggravated level one) are effectively cut in half by Good Time, pursuant to N.C. Department of Public Safety administrative policy. Today’s post considers a related wrinkle: when a DWI defendant has jail credit, should that credit be applied before or after the sentence is “cut in half”? First, a quick word about the way Good Time credit works. Though it is technically a reward for good behavior, the long-time practice of the Division of Adult Correction is to apply the credit at the outset, on the assumption that the inmate will serve the entire sentence without infraction. Theoretically, an inmate who then misbehaves during his or her term of imprisonment will have days added back to the sentence, to account for the extra days that were awarded in anticipation of good behavior that didn’t actually happen. I say theoretically because I have literally never heard of an inmate having time added back to his or her DWI sentence for bad behavior. (If you are a prison or jail official who has seen this happen, please post a comment.) Back to the jail credit issue. Whether jail credit is applied before or after DAC cuts the [...]