California Penal Code Section 4019 Calculating Prisoners Credits

The 2009 Amendments to Section 4019: Under Penal Code section 2900.5, a criminal defendant is entitled to credit against his term of imprisonment for all days he spends in custody, "including days credited to the period of confinement pursuant to Section 4019 ... ." ( 2900.5, subd. (a).) Penal Code Section 4019 provides the method of calculating the credit to which a prisoner is entitled against his sentence for good behavior and work performance (conduct credit), based on his time in local custody after arrest and before sentence is imposed on a felony conviction. ( 4019, subd. (a)(4).) Under former section 4019, which was in effect when Norton was sentenced, a prisoner who had "satisfactorily complied with the reasonable rules and regulations ..." and had not "refused to satisfactorily perform labor as assigned ..." was entitled to two days of conduct credit for every four days spent in local custody. (Former 4019, subd. (f) prisoners are deemed to have served six days for every four days in actual custody; see People v. Bravo (1990) 219 Cal.App.3d 729, 732.) Under section 4019 as amended, prisoners who are not required to register as sex offenders ( 290 et seq.), were not committed for a serious felony ( 1192.7), and do not have prior convictions for a serious felony ( 1192.7) or a violent felony ( 667.5) are entitled to two days of conduct credit for every two days they spend in local custody. ( 4019, subd. (f) qualified prisoners are deemed to have served four days for every two days in actual custody.)