"Good Time" vs "Earned Time" in Wisconsin criminal law

Under Wisconsin law, anyone who is sentenced to jail time has the right to “good time.” Good time allows inmates to have 25% of their sentence taken off if they are not causing problems at the jail.

What is time earned or good time?

If you are sentenced to 20 days in jail, with good time you will only serve 15 of those days. If your jail time does not get you even numbers, the jail will round up. For example, if you are given a 10-day sentence, you would only have to serve 7.5, but because partial days do not count, you would serve 8 days.

Good time does not apply to prison sentences, nor does it apply to condition time, with a few exceptions.

You are only guilty if you are convicted&trade

Condition Time vs Good Time

When someone is sentenced and put on probation, the judge will impose conditions of probation, and one of those conditions might be jail time. This jail time, as a part of probation, is called condition time. Generally speaking, a sentence with condition time will not be given good time. However, if your charges come with a minimum required sentence, you are entitled to good time. For example, if you are sentenced with 2 years of probation and 30 days condition time on a theft case, you are not entitled to condition time because there is no minimum jail requirement on a theft case. However, if you are sentenced on a case such as an OWI 3rd, you would be given good time because someone convicted of an OWI 3rd offense must serve a minimum of 45 days, even if given probation. You need a lawyer who knows the DUI charges in Wisconsin to represent you. What is the penalty for a driver receiving their third OWI?

Questions about your sentence or potential sentence? Call Grieve Law today.