‘Good time’ clarification bill clears first round

A measure introduced to clarify the calculation of “good time” for individuals serving city or county jail sentences advanced to select file April 29.

LB640, sponsored by the Judiciary Committee, would require using the aggregate of the remaining term of a person sentenced to or confined in a city or county jail — including the sum of all consecutive sentences the person receives, whether received at the same time or at any time during such sentence or confinement — in determining sentence or sanction reduction.

Lincoln Sen. Carolyn Bosn, chairperson of the committee, said the bill was introduced in response to a 2024 Nebraska Supreme Court decision in Mullins v Box Butte County related to the calculation of sentence reduction for good behavior during confinement in jail.

Currently, after 15 days of confinement, an incarcerated person is eligible to earn day-for-day good-time credit toward their sentence for following rules and not engaging in prohibited conduct.

In the Mullins case, Bosn said, an individual was serving two consecutive sentences and the county was calculating good time based on a new 15-day waiting period at the start of each sentence. LB640 would simplify current law to clarify that good time instead should be calculated based upon the aggregate of a person’s remaining term, she said.

“There was a discrepancy in how different courts were applying [good time],” Bosn said, “and it was a problem for the jails, it was a problem for law enforcement and defense attorneys … so the court said we need a fix; we need to have one rule that’s applied uniformly across the state.”

Lawmakers advanced LB640 to select file 41-0.