Colorado § 17-22.5-201 - Good time credit allowable.

§ 17-22.5-201. Good time credit allowable.

(1) Unless otherwise provided by law, every inmate confined in a correctional facility of the department who has committed no infraction of the rules or regulations of the department or the laws of the state and who performs in a faithful, diligent, industrious, orderly, and peaceable manner the work, duties, and tasks assigned to him to the satisfaction of the executive director or any of his designees may be allowed time credit reductions as follows: A deduction of two months in each of the first two years, four months in each of the next two years, and five months in each of the remaining years of his term of confinement, and correspondingly for any part of the year if such term of confinement is for less than a year. The mode of computing credits shall be as follows:

Number of yrs.

of sentence

Good time that

may be earned

Total good time

that may be earned

Time to be served if

full credits are

earned and allowed

1st year

2 months

2 months

10 months

2nd year

2 months

4 months

1 year 8 months

3rd year

4 months

8 months

2 years 4 months

4th year

4 months

1 year

3 years

5th year

5 months

1 year 5 months

3 years 7 months

6th year

5 months

1 year 10 months

4 years 2 months

7th year

5 months

2 years 3 months

4 years 9 months

8th year

5 months

2 years 8 months

5 years 4 months

9th year

5 months

3 years 1 month

5 years 11 months

10th year

5 months

3 years 6 months

6 years 6 months

and so continuing through as many years as may be the time of confinement.

(2) To those inmates whom the executive director or any of his designees may designate as trusties and who conduct themselves in accordance with departmental rules and perform their work in a creditable manner, upon approval of the executive director or any of his designees, additional good time to that allowed in the table set forth in subsection (1) of this section, not to exceed ten days in any one calendar month, shall be credited upon the time remaining to be served, such credit to be allowed only upon the actual number of months served in each year in a correctional facility of the department.

(3) The executive director or any of his designees may grant to any inmate confined in a correctional facility additional good time credit to that allowed under subsections (1) and (2) of this section, not to exceed five days per month for each calendar year remaining to be served, for the following reasons:

(a) Meritorious service by an inmate; or

(b) Outstanding performance of assigned tasks in correctional industries.

(4) The executive director or any of his designees may restore to the credit of any inmate confined in a correctional facility all or any portion of good time credits which have been forfeited by the inmate as a result of any disciplinary action or provision of law.

(5) (a) The provisions of this section shall apply to a defendant whose sentence was stayed pending appeal prior to July 1, 1972, but who was confined pending disposition of the appeal. Such credit shall be against the maximum and minimum terms of his sentence for the entire period of confinement served while the stay of execution was in effect.

(b) A defendant whose sentence is stayed pending appeal after July 1, 1972, but who is confined pending disposition of the appeal is entitled to the credit provided by this section against the maximum and minimum terms of his sentence for the entire period of confinement served while the stay of execution was in effect.

(6) If any inmate assaults any keeper, guard, foreman, officer, inmate, or other person, or threatens or endangers the person or life of anyone, or violates or disregards any departmental rule or regulation, or neglects or refuses to do the work to which he is assigned, or is guilty of any misconduct, or violates any of the rules or regulations governing parole, the department may order the forfeiture of all time credits theretofore earned by or allowed to him before the commission of such offense under this section.

Source: L. 84: Entire article R&RE, p. 518, § 1, effective July 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 17-20-107 as it existed prior to 1984.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Criminal Procedure in Colorado — A Summary and Recommendations for Improvement", see 22 Rocky Mt. L. Rev. 221 (1950).

Annotator's note. Since § 17-22.5-201 is similar to repealed §§ 17-20-107 and 27-20-107, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.

Constitutionality. Former § 17-20-107 did not deny equal protection of the laws even though it distinguished between those persons who remain in jail before conviction and those who make bail. People v. Turman, 659 P.2d 1368 (Colo. 1983).

Provisions of this section are limited by § 17-22.5-104 (2)(a), which provides that an inmate imprisoned under a life sentence committed before July 1, 1977, shall not be paroled until he has served at least ten calendar years, such period to commence on the day of sentencing, with no reduction for meritorious good time credits. People v. Goodwin, 768 P.2d 715 (Colo. App. 1988).

Good conduct credits are in the nature of a reward which are granted to the convict for his commendable behavior and are designed to induce similar conduct during the remainder of the convict's imprisonment. Alexander v. Wilson, 189 Colo. 321, 540 P.2d 331 (1975); Hall v. Zavaras, 916 P.2d 634 (Colo. App. 1996).

There is nothing in subsection (1) to indicate that good time is to be given only after each year is served. Rather, credits are to be projected for portions of each year of an inmate's sentence. Vashone-Caruso v. Suthers, 29 P.3d 339 (Colo. App. 2001).

But the plain language of subsection (2) governing trusty time, unlike the language of subsection (1), requires that trusty time be credited against actual time to be served. Vashone-Caruso v. Suthers, 29 P.3d 339 (Colo. App. 2001).

Term, "may," as used in subsection (3), grants discretion to the department of corrections in the grant or denial of good time credit. Thus, an inmate has no legitimate claim of entitlement to the award of meritorious good time credits. Hall v. Zavaras, 916 P.2d 634 (Colo. App. 1996).

The decision to withhold or condition good time credits does not constitute the imposition of additional punishment. Hall v. Zavaras, 916 P.2d 634 (Colo. App. 1996).

The allowance of credit for good conduct is not a right but rather a benefit conferred by the state, and for that reason, the conditions under which a sentence will be shortened are controlled entirely by statute. Alexander v. Wilson, 189 Colo. 321, 540 P.2d 331 (1975).

By its express terms, this statute is limited in application to state convicts incarcerated in the penitentiary of this state as the general assembly has not seen fit to extend the privilege of good conduct credit to prisoners for time spent in confinement outside of this state immediately prior to imprisonment in this state. Alexander v. Wilson, 189 Colo. 321, 540 P.2d 331 (1975).

It is the convict's behavior in the penitentiary of this state, not that of some other jurisdiction, which is being rewarded by this section. Alexander v. Wilson, 189 Colo. 321, 540 P.2d 331 (1975).

This statute plainly requires that an inmate serve a given month in confinement before trusty time credit for such month may be deducted from the remainder of the inmate's sentence. People v. Bastardo, 725 P.2d 88 (Colo. App. 1986); McLeod v. Brittain, 728 P.2d 1296 (Colo. 1986).

Good time credits not credited against presentence confinement. Pretrial confinement time should be subtracted from the sentence prior to computing good time and similar credits. Menchetti v. Wilson, 43 Colo. App. 19, 597 P.2d 1054 (1979).

There is no statutory requirement that the good time and other credits of §§ 17-20-104, 17-20-105, and 17-20-107, be credited against presentence confinement. Menchetti v. Wilson, 43 Colo. App. 19, 597 P.2d 1054 (1979).

Aggregation of consecutive sentences is proper when calculating good time credit. People v. Broga, 750 P.2d 59 (Colo. 1988); Vashone-Caruso v. Suthers, 29 P.3d 339 (Colo. App. 2001).