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Bill fixes court-of-appeals ruling on time‑served for probation revocation cases; committee passes measure
Summary
HB 535 would ensure time sitting in jail awaiting probation revocation hearings counts the same as time served in other criminal contexts, reversing a court‑of‑appeals interpretation in Kellum that produced inconsistent results; committee approved the bill with support from corrections stakeholders.
Representative Smith presented House Bill 535 to address inconsistent calculations of time served following the Court of Appeals decision in Kellum. The sponsor said Kellum created a rule that jailed time awaiting probation-revocation hearings counted as time on probation rather than as time served toward a carceral sentence, producing situations where defendants sentenced after revocation effectively served longer terms than judges intended. (Representative Smith.)
The bill would align time-served counting in probation-revocation contexts with ordinary criminal-sentencing practice so that days an individual spends in jail awaiting adjudication credit against a post-revocation custodial term in the same way as in other cases. The sponsor said the Department of Corrections (GDC) cooperated in drafting language and requested a clause ensuring credit would not be given for time served when the defendant's reporting issues caused the delay. (Representative Smith.)
Committee members had no recorded opposition and no witnesses signed to speak. The committee voted to pass the bill; transcript notes 'passes' but does not include a roll-call tally.
