In Forrest v. State, the Georgia Court of Appeals clarified the O.C.G.A. § 17-10-11, specifically regarding a defendant’s right to credit for time served before sentencing. This case is a critical reminder that trial courts must abide by the law’s broad mandate and leave the final calculation of time-served credit to the Department of Corrections (DOC). Clients are entitled to credit for time served in custody, even from other counties!
Forrest pleaded guilty under an Alford plea to first-degree arson in Fulton County. However, before sentencing, he had also served time in DeKalb County jail for a separate charge. The trial court refused to credit that time toward his Fulton County sentence.
The Court of Appeals ruled that Forrest was entitled to full credit for each day he spent in confinement after his arrest, regardless of where that confinement took place.
The timeline is as follows (and he got credit for all of it!):
- August 1, 2022 - Arrested for Arson in Fulton County.
- August 1, 2022 to September 18, 2023 - Remained in Fulton County jail.
- September 19, 2023 - January 25, 2024 - Transferred DeKalb jail for another case.
- January 26, 2024 - February 2, 2024 - Transferred back to Fulton County jail.
- February 3, 2024 - April 18, 2024 - Transferred back to DeKalb County jail.
- April 19, 2024 - present - Transferred back to Fulton County jail.
O.C.G.A. § 17-10-11 is very clear: a defendant must receive full credit for each day spent in custody since the date of arrest for the charge at issue. Before a crucial 2020 amendment, credit was only granted for time served specifically related to a court order in the same criminal case. Now, however, the new law states that time served anywhere in the state must be counted.
The key provision reads:
"Upon conviction for an offense, a person shall be given full credit for each day spent in confinement in any penal institution or facility[,] including pretrial confinement, for any reason, since the date of arrest for the offense which is the subject of the sentence."
The new law can be found here.