Legal Definitions - jail credit

Definition: Jail credit refers to the time spent by a criminal defendant in confinement while awaiting trial. This time is usually subtracted from the defendant's final sentence if they are convicted.

Example: If a defendant spends 30 days in jail before their trial and is later sentenced to 1 year in prison, they may receive jail credit for those 30 days. This means their sentence would be reduced to 335 days.

Explanation: The example illustrates how jail credit works in practice. The defendant's time spent in jail before their trial is taken into account and deducted from their final sentence if they are found guilty. This is done to ensure that defendants are not punished twice for the same period of time.