In re L.W., 2016 IL App (3d) 160092 (July). Episode 209 (Duration 8:21)

Sentencing on petition to revoke probation entitles you to more credit than a sentence on contempt of court.

Facts

Minor was going in and out of detention based on an original petition of adjudication. However, the minor ended up doing over 260 days of detention based on several petitions to revoke his probation and several contempt of court petitions all filed in the original case.

No new charges with different case numbers were ever filed. His one file just kept getting fatter.

Issue

When he was sentenced to another 179 days on a fourth contempt of court petition the minor said he had over 260 days of credit built up from all the time he served on the prior PTRs and contempt petitions.

Holding

Reviewing court said, “no”, not really. The fourth contempt sentence was the result of an independent proceeding, and therefore, he was only entitled to sentencing credit for the time he spent in custody in connection with the contempt proceeding.

Analysis

First, the Illinois Supreme Court has held that the contempt power is a means to enforce the terms of a juvenile’s probation as an alternative to the statutorily provided enforcement mechanisms.

705 ILCS 405/5-710(1)(a)(v) entitles a minor to custody “credit on the sentencing order of detention for time spent in detention.” However, prior case law has held that, because a contempt proceeding “is an original special proceeding, collateral to and independent of, the case in which the contempt arises,” the custody credit is limited to the time the minor spent in custody in connection with the contempt petition. People ex rel. Scott v. Silverstein, 87 Ill. 2d 167, 172 (1981).

What If He Was Sentenced On A PTR?

This would have been a different situation had he been sentenced on a PTR. See People v. Hutchcraft, 215 Ill. App. 3d 533 (1991), where defendant was resentenced on a PTR but was properly given credit for time he served on a prior contempt of court finding.

This is because a PTR sentence is a sentence on the original charge, which is the same as the underlying sentence. But custody credit incurred for serving time on another contempt proceeding, even if derived from the same sentence of probation, cannot be applied as a custody credit to a subsequent contempt sentence.

The Gist & Rule

To allow contempt custody credits to be applied to a subsequent contempt sentence would dilute the court’s contempt power which is recognized as being completely independant.

If sentenced to a PTR you are entitled to credit for time served for all the days you have served on that file. If your sentenced on a contempt petition you only get credit for time served on that petition.