Ark. Code Ann. § 16-93-610 (2026)
Computation of sentence
- Time served is deemed to begin on the day sentence is imposed, not on the day a prisoner is received by the Department of Corrections. It shall continue only during the time in which a prisoner is actually confined in a county jail or other local place of lawful confinement or while under the custody and supervision of the department.
- When the sentencing judge imposes sentence, he or she is to direct that the time already served by the defendant in jail or other place of detention is to be credited against the defendant.
History. Acts 1968 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 50, § 34; A.S.A. 1947, § 43-2813; Acts 2005, No. 1994, § 440; 2019, No. 910, § 911.
Amendments. The 2005 amendment, in (b), substituted “judge shall” for “judge, in his discretion, may,” inserted “or she” and substituted “against the defendant” for “against the sentence.”
The 2019 amendment substituted “Department of Corrections” for “Department of Correction” in the first sentence of (a).
Cross References. Deduction of confinement under prior conviction, Ark. R. App. P. Crim. 12.
Case Notes
Constitutionality.
Disparity resulting from determining “good-time” towards credit and minimum parole eligibility time among various prisoners does not deny equal protection under U.S. Const., Amend. 14. West v. State, 257 Ark. 582, 518 S.W.2d 497 (1975).
Commencement of Sentence.
Where the defendant was convicted and sentenced for two offenses in state court, but before he was confined, he was tried on a deferral charge and imprisoned in a federal penitentiary, his state sentence started running on the date he was delivered to the state penitentiary to start serving his sentence. Young v. State, 252 Ark. 184, 477 S.W.2d 823 (1972).
Credit of Pretrial Jail Time.
Where record failed to show that the court did not afford to petitioner the opportunity to ask for credit for his jail time prior to sentencing, or that any objection was ever offered to the pronouncement of the sentence without crediting the pretrial jail time against the term imposed by the jury, circuit court properly denied the credit for time spent in pretrial incarceration. Coleman v. State, 257 Ark. 538, 518 S.W.2d 487 (1975).
Even if defendant were otherwise entitled to credit for the time he was held in custody, there is simply no way to credit this time against a life sentence; life less five years is a period not susceptible of prognostication. Campbell v. State, 265 Ark. 77, 576 S.W.2d 938 (1979).
A prisoner may receive jail time credit for time he has spent at his residence with his liberties restricted. Garrett v. McDonagh, 303 Ark. 348, 796 S.W.2d 582 (1990).
Discretion of Court.
It was not a violation of U.S. Const., Amend. 14, to deny credit for presentence confinement where no indigency was alleged and where accused was held on presumption of guilt for a nonbailable offense. Smith v. State, 256 Ark. 425, 508 S.W.2d 54 (1974).
Court has discretion on whether to count time spent by defendant in county jail awaiting trial and it did not abuse that discretion by refusing to count that time unless defendant showed that he failed to make bond because of indigency. Charles v. State, 256 Ark. 690, 510 S.W.2d 68 (1974).
This section does not direct or permit a judge to make the sentence effective retroactively to a pretrial incarceration. West v. State, 257 Ark. 582, 518 S.W.2d 497 (1975).
Where defendant was not given the right of allocution, the Arkansas Supreme Court could not indulge in the presumption that the trial court did its duty according to law or exercised its discretion pursuant to this section. Smith v. State, 257 Ark. 781, 520 S.W.2d 301 (1975).
This section vests discretion in the trial judge to decide whether credit for “jail time” should be given. Barnes v. State, 258 Ark. 565, 528 S.W.2d 370 (1975).
Cited: Standridge v. State, 290 Ark. 150, 717 S.W.2d 795 (1986).