Revised Administrative Rules on Sentence Credit
General Overview
There are various forms of sentence credits available to offenders, however not all offenders are eligible for each type of credit. The three most common types of credit are Statutory Sentence Credit, Program Sentence Credit, and Supplemental Sentence Credit.
Statutory Sentence Credit refers to the percentage of time a determinate-sentenced offender must spend incarcerated. Offenders serve 50%, 75%, 85%, or 100% of their sentence, determined by statute, and based on the offense that was committed. For example, an offender who received a 4 year sentence for burglary would serve 50% of his sentence by statute, or 2 years. Offenders may lose statutory sentence credit based on negative behavior while in custody.
Program Sentence Credit refers to time earned by an offender for participation in education, life skills courses, behavioral modification, drug treatment, re-entry planning, or Illinois Correctional Industries programs. Not all offenders are eligible for programming credit; for instance, offenders convicted of violent and Class X crimes are not eligible but may still be able to participate in such programming. Offenders earn one-half day off their sentence for each day of participation in such programs if they successfully complete the programs (Example: if an eligible offender completes a drug treatment program that is 30-days in duration, he may be awarded 15-days off his sentence). Offenders may lose program sentence credit based on bad behavior while in custody.
Supplemental Sentence Credit (“SSC”) refers to credit of up to 180 days on an offender’s incarceration that can be issued as a result of an offender’s good conduct. This credit is at the sole discretion of the Director of the Department of Corrections or his designee. Similar to Statutory Sentence Credit and Program Sentence Credit, offenders may lose SSC based on their behavior while in custody.
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