How Release Dates Are Calculated in Arizona

If you or someone you love is doing time in Arizona, the release math is more rigid than in most states, and it helps to understand why. Arizona abolished parole for crimes committed on or after January 1, 1994. Instead of a parole board deciding when you get out, the law sets a fixed percentage of the sentence you must serve, and earned release credits are the only thing that brings the date in. For most people that floor is 85 percent of the sentence.

This guide walks through how Arizona calculates a release date step by step: how truth in sentencing works, when the clock starts, the earned release credit rates and who qualifies for the faster drug program rate, the flat time sentences that get no credit at all, and the community supervision term that follows almost every release. None of this is legal advice, but it will help you read your own time the way the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry does.

Here is the short version.

For crimes committed on or after January 1, 1994, Arizona has no parole. Most people are in the standard earned release credit class and earn one day of credit for every six days served, which means release at about 85 percent of the sentence. A faster rate of three days for every seven days served is available to certain drug possession offenders who complete a treatment or major self improvement program, bringing release closer to 70 percent. The most serious sentences are flat time, served day for day with no credit. After the earned release date, almost everyone serves a community supervision term in the community, equal to about one seventh of the sentence.

Step one: truth in sentencing and the end of parole

The single most important fact about Arizona release dates is that parole was abolished for modern crimes.

For offenses committed on or after January 1, 1994, Arizona operates under truth in sentencing. There is no parole board deciding early release, and there is no discretionary parole. Instead, the sentence the judge imposes is largely the sentence you serve, reduced only by earned release credits at a fixed statutory rate. This is why Arizona time is considered hard time compared to states that still have parole.

Parole still exists, but only for crimes committed before January 1, 1994, and for certain life sentences with a minimum number of years. For the large majority of people in Arizona prisons today, those old parole rules do not apply, and the calculation is driven entirely by the truth in sentencing percentage and earned release credits. Knowing your date of offense is therefore the first step, because it determines which system you are under.

Step two: where the clock starts

Before you apply any credits, you need to know your start date and what counts toward it.

In Arizona, time served in county jail before sentencing counts and is included when the Department calculates your earned release credits. Within about 30 days of arriving at the Department, your release eligibility dates are calculated based on the date of the offense, the statutes in effect at that time, and the certified commitment documents from the court. That calculation produces your earned release credit date and your sentence expiration date.

If you are serving more than one sentence, consecutive sentences are served one after another, and you move to the next sentence when you reach the earned release credit date on the first. Make sure your jail credit and your offense date are correct on your paperwork, because both feed directly into every later date the Department calculates.

Step three: earned release credits, the only way to shorten the term

Earned release credits are the heart of Arizona release math, because they are the only mechanism that reduces time for modern sentences.

For most people, the standard rate is one day of earned release credit for every six days served. That works out to release at roughly 85 percent of the imposed sentence, which is why Arizona is known as an 85 percent state. The credit is earned through good behavior and participation in work, education, and programs, and you must be in the eligible earned release credit class to receive it.

There is a faster rate for some drug offenses. A prisoner sentenced for the possession or use of marijuana, a dangerous drug, a narcotic drug, or drug paraphernalia, who completes a drug treatment program or another major self improvement program provided by the Department, and who is not a violent or aggravated offender, can earn three days of credit for every seven days served. That moves release closer to 70 percent of the sentence. The key point is that the rate is fixed by statute based on your offense and program participation; it is not a discretionary decision.

Step four: flat time, when there are no credits

Some sentences earn no credit at all, and for those the calculation is simple but harsh.

Certain sentences are served flat, meaning day for day, with the person required to serve the full term imposed by the court. This applies to the most serious offenses and to people sentenced as dangerous or repetitive offenders under provisions that prohibit early release. For these sentences, earned release credits do not apply, and the release date is essentially the full sentence, adjusted only for jail credit already served.

This is the part of the system that surprises families. Two people can receive the same number of years, but if one sentence is a standard truth in sentencing term and the other is flat time, the actual time served can be very different. Knowing whether your sentence is a standard earned release credit sentence or a flat sentence tells you immediately whether credits are part of your math at all.

Step five: community supervision after release

In Arizona, reaching your earned release date is not the end of the sentence; it is the start of community supervision.

For crimes committed on or after January 1, 1994, the court imposes a term of community supervision in addition to the prison term. It is equal to about one seventh of the imposed sentence. When you reach your earned release credit date, you are released from prison to serve that community supervision term in the community under Department supervision. Even people who serve flat time still serve a community supervision term after release.

There is a catch worth knowing. You must sign and agree to the conditions of supervision to be released on your earned release date. If you refuse, you are held until the sentence expiration date and then must serve the community supervision term, and if you refuse again, that supervision term is served in prison. If you violate community supervision after release, you can be returned to prison to finish that term. So community supervision is a real part of the sentence, not an afterthought.

Putting it together: a worked example

Here is how the pieces fit, using a simple example. None of these numbers are legal advice, but they show the method.

Say a person receives a ten year sentence for a non dangerous offense and is in the standard earned release credit class. Earning one day for every six days served, they reach the earned release credit date at about 85 percent of the term, which is roughly eight and a half years. At that point they are released to community supervision for about one seventh of the sentence, which is around a year and a half, served in the community under Department conditions. If they violate, they can be returned to prison for the balance of that supervision term.

Now change the facts. If that same ten year sentence is for a qualifying drug possession offense and the person completes the required treatment or self improvement program, the rate becomes three days for every seven days served, bringing release closer to 70 percent, or about seven years, followed by the same community supervision. But if the sentence is flat time because of a dangerous or repetitive designation, none of those credits apply, and the person serves the full ten years before the community supervision term begins. Same number on paper, very different time served.

The bottom line for Arizona

Arizona is a truth in sentencing state with no parole for modern crimes, so the release date is mostly fixed by statute rather than decided by a board. For the large middle of the system, that means serving about 85 percent of the sentence, with earned release credits at one day for every six days served as the only thing that brings the date in. Qualifying drug possession offenders who complete programming can reach about 70 percent, and the most serious or dangerous sentences are flat time with no credit at all.

The practical takeaways are clear. First, find out your date of offense, because it determines whether you are under truth in sentencing or the old parole rules. Second, find out whether your sentence is a standard earned release credit sentence or a flat sentence, because that tells you whether credits apply. Third, plan for the community supervision term that follows release, equal to about one seventh of the sentence, and understand that violating it can send you back. Ask the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry for your time computation so you can see your earned release credit date and your sentence expiration date.