Many clients of ours who cannot post bail wonder if they will get jail credit, and how they can use it. On this page, I will discuss jail credit in Connecticut and how it can be used to your advantage. Call a skilled lawyer for more information.

What is Jail Credit?

If you are charged with a crime and arrested, it is possible that you will spend time in jail before a trial or punishment. This is the case if bail is denied you or if you are unable to post a bond. If you spend any amount of time in a jail or a prison before your sentence actually begins, this time is considered “jail credit.” If you can’t post a bond, you have to wait in jail until your trial begins. This can take weeks or even months. All of the time that you spend in jail waiting for your trial can be used later on as “jail credit.” If you face jail time as a penalty, you can put jail credit towards the sentence.

For the sake of this example, let’s say that you served two weeks in a jail facility while awaiting trial. These two weeks are considered jail credit. If you are found guilty in court and sentenced to prison, you can use your jail credit. This credit can shorten the sentence. For example, let’s say you were sentenced to six months in jail. If you use your two weeks of jail credit, you only have to serve five months and two weeks.

In some cases, you will only have a few days or weeks of jail credit. While this won’t make a huge difference, it is still time that you can take off of your sentence. And in some cases, if you spend several months in jail awaiting your trial, the jail credit can add up to a significant amount of time.

Jail Credit and Violation of Probation

If you are on probation as an alternative to serving jail time, and you violate your probation, you face the possibility of going to jail. If after your probation hearing your probation is revoked and you have to serve the original jail sentence that was assigned in your case, you may use any jail credit that you have.

Also, if you are facing a violation of probation, you want to fight this charge. You want to do this before a punishment is enforced on you. In order to establish the best defense at your probation hearing, you should consider hiring a criminal defense lawyer. Find a lawyer with experience in violation of probation cases. Such a lawyer can help you defend yourself and get the charge dropped or reduced. If you would like to discuss your case with a criminal defense lawyer, you can contact an attorney. Also, check out the other pages on our website for more information about probation and other issues that you may face.