Bill > S1482

Introduced Session

This bill clarifies that defendants are to be credited with time served in jail or a State hospital between arrest and sentencing when that jail time is directly attributable to the specific offense for which the sentence is being imposed. "Jail credit" refers to the credit awarded for pre-sentence time served under Rule 3:21-8. The rule specifies that a defendant is to receive credit for a custodial sentence for any time served in jail or a State hospital between arrest for an offense and imposition of sentence for that offense. Rule 3:21-8 had been strictly construed by New Jersey courts since its inception in 1969. Under the rule, jail credits were only awarded for time in confinement that was directly attributable to the offense for which the defendant was initially incarcerated. However, in State v. Hernandez, 208 N.J. 24 (2011), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that under Rule 3:21-8, defendants are entitled to credits against all sentences for any time served in jail or a State hospital between being arrested and sentenced. The court reasoned that the rule must be consistently applied to promote uniformity in sentencing and that there was no room for discretion in granting or denying jail credits. According to the sponsor, this change in interpretation of Rule 3:21-8 has resulted in defendants receiving double, and in some instances, triple credit, for pretrial jail time served. It has minimized the time the worst offenders in the criminal justice system will serve. Consequently, the purpose of this bill is to effectively reverse State v. Hernandez and return to prior law interpreting Rule 3:21-8 as requiring defendants to be credited only with jail time served that was directly attributable to the offense for which they are being sentenced.

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Jennifer Beck (R)*,  Joseph Kyrillos (R), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee (on 02/16/2016)