Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3043 - Credit Earning
(a)
General. Incarcerated persons are expected to work or participate in
rehabilitative programs and activities to prepare for their eventual return to
society. Incarcerated persons who comply with the regulations and rules of the
Department and perform the duties assigned to them shall be eligible to earn
Good Conduct Credit as set forth in section
3043.2 of this article. Unless
otherwise precluded by this article, all incarcerated persons who participate
in approved rehabilitative programs and activities, including incarcerated
persons housed in restricted housing units or in other restricted housing,
shall be eligible to earn Milestone Completion Credit, Rehabilitative
Achievement Credit, and Educational Merit Credit as set forth in sections
3043.3,
3043.4, and
3043.5 of this article. The award
of these credits, as well as Extraordinary Conduct Credit as set forth in
section 3043.6 of this article, shall
advance an incarcerated person's release date if sentenced to a determinate
term subject to subsection (c) of this section, or advance an incarcerated
person's initial parole hearing date pursuant to subdivision (a)(2) of section
3041 of the
Penal Code if sentenced to an indeterminate term with the possibility of
parole. Incarcerated persons who do not comply with the regulations and rules
of the Department or who do not perform the duties assigned to them shall be
subject to credit forfeiture as provided in this article.
(b) Incarcerated Person Participation in
Credit Earning Programs and Activities. All eligible incarcerated persons shall
have a reasonable opportunity to earn Good Conduct Credit, Milestone Completion
Credit, Rehabilitative Achievement Credit, and Educational Merit Credit in a
manner consistent with the availability of staff, space, and resources, as well
as the unique safety and security considerations of each prison. No credit
shall be awarded for incomplete, partial, or unsatisfactory participation in
the credit earning programs or activities described in this article, nor shall
credit be awarded for diplomas, degrees, or certificates that cannot be
verified after due diligence by Department staff.
(c) Release Date Restriction.
(1) The following Release Date Restriction
took effect on April 13, 2017. Under no circumstance shall a determinately
sentenced incarcerated person be awarded credit or have credit restored by the
Department which advances their release to a date less than 60 calendar days
from the date the award or restoration of such credit is entered into the
Department's information technology system, except pursuant to a court
order.
(2) The following Release
Date Restriction shall commence on May 1, 2019 and supersede the Release Date
Restriction in subsection (c)(1). Under no circumstance shall a determinately
sentenced incarcerated person be awarded credit or have credit restored by the
Department which advances their release to a date less than 15 calendar days
from the date the award or restoration of such credit is entered into the
Department's information technology system, except pursuant to a court order.
This restriction shall instead be 45 calendar days for all incarcerated persons
convicted of an offense identified in section
3058.9 of the
Penal Code, and 60 calendar days for all incarcerated persons serving a term
for a violent felony, defined in subdivision (c) of section
667.5 of the
Penal Code, as stated in section
3058.6 of the
Penal Code, except pursuant to a court order.
(d) Participation by Incarcerated Persons
Sentenced as Adults and Placed In an Alternative Custody Setting. Incarcerated
persons sentenced as adults and placed in an alternative custody setting prior
to parole, including a pre-parole or re-entry program, are eligible to earn
Good Conduct Credit and participate in programs to earn Milestone Completion
Credit, Rehabilitative Achievement Credit, Educational Merit Credit, and
Extraordinary Conduct Credit. Placement in an alternative custody setting means
transfer of an incarcerated person, prior to parole, to serve the remainder of
their term of incarceration in a community based re-entry facility administered
by the Department in lieu of confinement in a state prison or Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection fire camp. For purposes of calculating when an
Incarcerated person's period of incarceration will be completed pursuant to
subdivision (c)(3) of section 1731.5 and subdivision (b) of section
1731.7
of the Welfare and Institutions Code, commencing January 1, 2019, the
Department shall consider the Good Conduct Credit, Milestone Completion Credit,
and Rehabilitative Achievement Credit that may be earned during the
incarcerated person's incarceration.
(e) Participation by Incarcerated Persons
Housed In A Different Jurisdiction. Incarcerated persons serving criminal
sentences under California law but housed in a different jurisdiction,
including those participating in the Western Interstate Corrections Compact,
participating in the Interstate Corrections Compact Agreement, housed in a
facility administered by a county sheriff, housed in a facility administered by
the California Department of State Hospitals, or housed in a facility
administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, are only eligible to participate
in Good Conduct Credit, Educational Merit Credit, and Extraordinary Conduct
Credit as described in this article, subject to the criteria set forth in
subsection (b).
(f) The award of
Educational Merit Credits as set forth in section
3043.5, shall also advance an
incarcerated person's Youth Parole Eligible Date as specified in subsection
3043.5(g). Good
Conduct Credit, Milestone Completion Credit, Rehabilitative Achievement Credit,
and Extraordinary Conduct Credit as set forth in sections
3043.2,
3043.3,
3043.4, and
3043.6 of this article shall not
advance an incarcerated person's Youth Parole Eligible Date.
Notes
Note: Authority cited: Cal. Const., article I, section 32(b); and Sections 5054 and 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Cal. Const., article I, section 32(a)(2); and Sections 3041, 3051, 3058.6 and 3058.9, Penal Code.
Note: Authority cited: Cal. Const., art. 1, sec 32(b); and Sections 5054 and 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Cal. Const., art. 1, sec. 32(a)(2); and Sections 3041, 3051, 3058.6 and 3058.9, Penal Code.
2. Amendment of subsection (c) and redesignated subsection (e), new subsection (d) and subsection renumbering filed 12-20-91 as an emergency; operative 12-20-91 (Register 92, No. 4). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL 4-20-92 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. Editorial correction of printing errors (Register 92, No. 4).
4. Certificate of Compliance as to 12-20-91 order including amendment of subsection (d)(2) transmitted to OAL 4-20-92 and filed 5-28-92 (Register 92, No. 24).
5. Editorial correction of subsection (c)(2)(A) (Register 95, No. 42).
6. New subsections (c)(1)-(3) and subsection renumbering, and amendment of Note filed 2-20-96 as an emergency; operative 2-20-96 (Register 96, No. 8). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-29-96 pursuant to Penal Code Section 5058(e) or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
7. Certificate of Compliance as to 2-20-96 order transmitted to OAL 6-17-96 and filed 7-23-96 (Register 96, No. 30).
8. Amendment of subsections (a)(1), (c)(4), (c)(5), (c)(5)(B), (d)(1), (g) and (g)(1) filed 6-9-2006; operative 7-9-2006 (Register 2006, No. 23).
9. Amendment filed 1-25-2010 as an emergency; operative 1-25-2010 (Register 2010, No. 5). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-6-2010 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
10. Certificate of Compliance as to 1-25-2010 order transmitted to OAL 6-23-2010 and filed 8-4-2010 (Register 2010, No. 32).
11. Amendment of subsections (c)(2), (c)(4) and (c)(7)(A)-(C) and amendment of Note filed 9-27-2011 as an emergency; operative 9-27-2011 (Register 2011, No. 39). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-5-2012 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
12. New subsections (c)(1)(A)-(B) and amendment of subsection (c)(6) filed 12-20-2011; operative 1-19-2012 (Register 2011, No. 51).
13. Certificate of Compliance as to 9-27-2011 order transmitted to OAL 2-3-2012; Certificate of Compliance withdrawn 3-19-2012 (Register 2012, No. 12).
14. Amendment of subsections (c)(2), (c)(4) and (c)(7)(A)-(C) and amendment of Note refiled 3-19-2012 as an emergency; operative 3-19-2012 (Register 2012, No. 12). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-18-2012 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
15. Reinstatement of section as it existed prior to 3-19-2012 emergency amendment by operation of Government Code section 11346.1(f) (Register 2012, No. 28).
16. Amendment of subsections (c)(2), (c)(4) and (c)(7)(A)-(C) and amendment of Note filed 9-13-2012 as an emergency; operative 9-13-2012 (Register 2012, No. 37). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-20-2012 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
17. Certificate of Compliance as to 9-13-2012 order transmitted to OAL 1-11-2013 and filed 2-25-2013 (Register 2013, No. 9).
18. Amendment of subsections (c)(4) and (c)(6) and new subsection (i) filed 10-29-2013 as an emergency; operative 10-29-2013 (Register 2013, No. 44). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-7-2014 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
19. Amendment of subsections (c)(4)-(6) filed 5-12-2014 as an emergency; operative 5-12-2014 (Register 2014, No. 20). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-20-2014 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
20. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-29-2013 order, including amendment of subsection (c)(4), transmitted to OAL 4-4-2014 and filed 5-14-2014; amendments effective 5-14-2014 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2014, No. 20).
21. Certificate of Compliance as to 5-12-2014 order transmitted to OAL 8-21-2014 and effective
22. Change without regulatory effect amending subsections (c)(1) and (c)(2), repealing subsection (c)(3), renumbering subsections and amending Note filed 4-22-2015 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2015, No. 17).
23. Amendment of subsection (c)(5) filed 7-31-2015; operative
24. Repealer and new section filed 4-13-2017 as an emergency; operative 4-13-2017 (Register 2017, No. 15). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 9-20-2017 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
25. Repealer and new section refiled 9-19-2017 as an emergency; operative 9-21-2017 (Register 2017, No. 38). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 12-20-2017 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
26. Repealer and new section refiled 12-18-2017 as an emergency; operative 12-21-2017 (Register 2017, No. 51). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-21-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
27. Certificate of Compliance as to 12-18-2017 order, including amendment of subsections (a)-(c), repealer and new subsection (d) and new subsection (e), transmitted to OAL 3-20-2018 and filed 5-1-2018; amendments operative
28. Amendment of subsection (c), new subsections (c)(1)-(2), amendment of subsections (d)-(e) and amendment of Note filed 1-9-2019 as an emergency; operative
29. Editorial correction of History 28 (Register 2019, No. 25).
30. Amendment of subsection (a), new subsections (a)(1)-(2), amendment of subsection (c), new subsections (c)(1)-(2), amendment of subsections (d)-(e) and amendment of Note refiled 6-17-2019 as an emergency; operative
31. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-17-2019 order, including amendment of subsection (a), repealer of subsections (a)(1)-(2) and amendment of Note, transmitted to OAL 9-13-2019 and filed 10-24-2019; amendments effective
32. Amendment filed 4-28-2021 as an emergency; operative
33. Editorial correction of History 32 (Register 2021, No. 36).
34. New subsection (f) filed 12-13-2021 as an emergency; operative
35. Amendment of section, including further amendment of subsections (a), (b), (c)(2) and (d), refiled 12-28-2021 as an emergency; operative
36. Amendment refiled 3-28-2022 as an emergency; operative
37. New subsection (f) refiled 5-24-2022 as an emergency; operative
38. Certificate of Compliance as to 3-28-2022 order transmitted to OAL 6-27-2022 and filed
39. Certificate of Compliance as to 5-24-2022 order, including further amendment of subsection (f), transmitted to OAL 8-31-2022 and filed 10-13-2022; amendments effective
40. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (d) filed 9-8-2023 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2023, No. 36).
41. Amendment of subsection (a) filed 10-24-2023 as an emergency; operative
42. Amendment of subsection (a) refiled 4-8-2024 as an emergency; operative
43. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).
44. Certificate of Compliance as to 4-8-2024 order, including further amendment of subsection (a), transmitted to OAL 6-18-2024 and filed 7-31-2024; amendments effective
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