If the judge sentences me to one year in county jail how much “actual jail time” will I serve?

The new law change in California as of October 1, 2011 states that you will receive a 50% credit off of your sentence. So this means the maximum amount of actual time you will serve is six months out of a one year sentence. However, many of the counties in California are “heavily impacted” as it relates to overcrowding in the local county jails. So how much actual time you will serve will depend upon in what county you will be serving your jail sentence. For example in Los Angeles County it is not uncommon for a person to serve 10% or less of their actual sentence. This will depend upon how crowded the Los Angeles County Jail is at the time you do your jail time. It is critical you have an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney representing you and he or she can help you determine when the best time might be to begin your sentence.

In other counties in California there is not an overcrowding problem and that means you likely will serve the entire six months on a one year sentence. You should make certain before you accept a plea bargain that you are properly informed by your experienced criminal defense attorney what the situation is in your specific county