Time in Jail Awaiting Sanction Should be Credited Toward That Sanction

State v. Chardon, No. 119464 (Kan. Ct. App. Aug. 23, 2019).

Issue: Defendant Christian Chardon was arrested for violating probation.  Unable to make bond, he was in jail for 65 days awaiting his disposition hearing.  At the hearing, the court sanctioned Chardon to serve 60 days in jail for violating probation.  Should the court have credited the 65 days that Chardon spent in jail awaiting the hearing toward the 60-day sanction?

Answer: Yes.  Time in jail served by a defendant awaiting a sanction should be credited toward that sanction.

Facts: Chardon was serving 12 months’ probation for felony theft and felony fleeing or eluding a police officer.  After Chardon violated his probation, he was arrested and spent 65 days in jail awaiting a disposition hearing.  The court determined that because the State failed to make certain allegations, it could only impose a 60-day jail sanction. After imposing the sanction and extending his probation for 12 months, the court refused to credit Chardon’s 65 days in jail toward his new sanction, instead crediting the days toward his underlying sentence.

Discussion: The court compared the 60-day sanction to the more severe “intermediate sanctions.”  The 60-day sanction was silent on jail time credit, while the “intermediate sanctions” disallowed jail time credit.  The court then inferred that the legislature knew it could exempt the 60-day sanction from credit and chose not to.  The court also held that the sanction is a “sentence of confinement,” rejecting the State’s argument to avoid operation of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-6615(a) (Supp. 2018).

Key Authorities: 

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22-3716(c) (Supp.|2017).

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-6615(a) (Supp.|2018).

State v. Petz, 7 P.3d 1277, 1279 (Kan. App. 2000).