Jail Sentencing Guidelines

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Every year judges all across the country hear court cases, and are then left to decide if the person on trial is innocent or guilty.

If someone is convicted, the next step is for them to receive their sentencing, which is considered to be one of the most important aspects in a trial.

“When you are looking at sentencing you have to make sure that the person receives a fair punishment for their conduct,” said Scott Colom, District Attorney for the 16th Judicial District. “You can’t have too much uniformity because otherwise that will lead to unfairness for the individual, so our office looks at every individual case and try to make a recommendation for a plea bargain that’s fair based on the conduct that the person did”

Colom said sentencing guidelines differ depending on the crime that was committed.

Violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and assault tend to carry heavier sentences.

“First-degree murder there’s only one punishment if you go to trial, and that’s life  with the potential of parole at 65,” said Colom. “For aggravated assault it could be from probation to 20 years depending on what type of assault it was. When you’re talking about sex crimes, it depends on if it’s an adult or child, and obviously when it’s children it comes with more punishment depending on the facts of the case.”

However, if someone is convicted of a non-violent crime, their sentencing can be anywhere from spending time in prison to only being on house arrest.

“For non-violent crimes the first thing they might get is pretrial diversion where they don’t get any type of prison sentence or even a felony on their record,” the district attorney explained. “For a lot of crimes people get probation, or house arrest where they don’t have to go to prison, or for some crimes people get county jail time because it’s fair that they not have to go into the prison system.”

Depending on the crime, Colom said there’s potential for the offenders to not have to serve their full sentence behind bars.

If a person is convicted of a violent crime, they’re eligible for parole or early release after serving 50% of their sentence.

If someone is convicted of a non-violent crime, they’re eligible for parole or early release after serving 25% of their sentence.

“If somebody gets a 10 year sentence, depending on if it’s a violent crime or a non-violent crime, their potential release date is either five years or 2 and a half years.”

However, the DA said there are a few crimes that are mandatory and the offenders must serve the full term.

Those  include sex crimes, first degree murder, and drug trafficking offenses.

According to Colom, a person can also have their sentence extended if they commit a new offense while in prison.