QUESTION: I have 2 clients who were both convicted of Burglary 3rd Degree. One was sentenced to 1 year in prison. The other was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months. They were co-defendants and sentenced the same date. They both received the exact same amount of jail time. However, their parole eligibility dates are the same. I believe that the longer sentence would require more time to serve for parole eligibility, based the 20 percent of the sentence imposed for parole review.

ANSWER: No. Parole regulations stipulate that a person who receives a sentence of 1 year, up to but not including 2 years are required to serve 4 months for parole review. Both of your clients would be required to serve four (4) months before parole eligibility since they are serving sentences of less than two (2) years. Persons who receive sentences of 2 years, up to and including 39 years, are required to serve 20 percent of the sentence received for parole review, more than 39 years, up to and including LIFE, are required to serve 8 years for parole review.

QUESTION: I have a client who was sentenced out of the Franklin and Woodford Circuit Courts. She was sentenced to 1 year in the Franklin Circuit Court on 11-05-1997. That sentence was ordered to run concurrently with any other sentence to be served. On 11-20-1997, she appeared in the Woodford Circuit Court and was sentenced to 2 years. This sentence was ordered to run consecutively with any other sentence. How does Corrections determine whether the sentences are to be served concurrently or consecutively?

ANSWER: It is the practice of the Department that when conflicting judgments are received (i.e. one saying concurrent, the other saying consecutive), we rely on the later judgment as the prevailing one. Therefore, your client’s sentences would run consecutively, based on the Woodford County judgment, for a total of 3 years.

DAVID E. NORAT
Assistant Public Advocate
100 Fair Oaks Lane, Suite 302
Frankfort, KY 40601
Tel: (502) 564-8006
Fax: (502) 564-7890

The Advocate, Vol. 20, No. 2  (March 1998)
 

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