If you are facing criminal charges in Tennessee, you probably want to know how much time you could actually spend in jail or prison. Looking up the maximum sentence for your charge is a start, but it may not tell you what you really want to know.
A felony class, your prior record, the sentence imposed by the judge, release eligibility, and Tennessee’s rules for certain serious offenses can all affect how much time you serve. Some offenses now require 100% of the sentence to be served, while others have different rules for release eligibility.
How Much Prison Time Can You Get for a Felony in Tennessee?
Tennessee has five felony classes, with Class A being the most serious and Class E being the lowest felony classification. Each class has its own possible sentencing range.
Your criminal history also matters. Tennessee classifies felony defendants into different offender ranges based largely on qualifying prior convictions. These include Range I standard offenders, Range II multiple offenders, Range III persistent offenders, and career offenders.
For example, the sentencing ranges for a Class B felony are:
- Range I: 8 to 12 years
- Range II: 12 to 20 years
- Range III: 20 to 30 years
That is a big difference. Someone charged with a Class B felony who falls into Range I is looking at a very different sentencing situation than someone with enough prior convictions to qualify as Range III.
What Do Range I, Range II, and Range III Mean in Tennessee?
Range I is the standard-offender category. Range II applies to multiple offenders, and Range III applies to persistent offenders. Tennessee also has separate rules for career offenders and especially mitigated offenders.
The felony class and offender range work together. A Range I Class C felony, for example, carries a sentencing range of 3 to 6 years. A Range II Class C felony carries 6 to 10 years, while a Range III Class C felony carries 10 to 15 years.
This is one of the first things we look at when someone wants to know how much time they are facing. We need to know the charge, but we also need to know what prior convictions are on the record.
What Percentage of a Prison Sentence Do You Serve in Tennessee?
There is no one percentage that applies to every Tennessee prison sentence. You may hear people say that you serve 30%, 85%, or some other percentage, but those numbers do not apply across the board.
For sentences that have release eligibility, Tennessee uses the offender classification and applicable sentencing law to determine when a person becomes eligible for parole consideration. The Tennessee Department of Correction calculates the Release Eligibility Date, commonly called the RED.
Release eligibility is not the same thing as release. If someone becomes eligible for parole at a certain point in the sentence, that does not mean the person is guaranteed to leave prison on that date.
What Does a 30% Release Eligibility Date Mean in Tennessee?
A standard Range I offender is commonly associated with a 30% release eligibility calculation for an eligible sentence. That percentage refers to when the person may become eligible for parole consideration, not a promise that only 30% of the sentence will actually be served.
For example, you should not assume that a 10-year sentence automatically means you will be home in three years because someone called it a “30% sentence.” Parole still has to be considered, and some offenses are subject to completely different rules.
That is also why asking what percentage you are pleading to can be just as important as asking how many years are in the plea offer.
Which Tennessee Crimes Require 100% of the Sentence to Be Served?
Tennessee made major changes to its sentencing laws for certain offenses committed on or after July 1, 2022. Some offenses now have no release eligibility and require the defendant to serve 100% of the sentence imposed.
The 100% category includes certain serious offenses such as attempted first-degree murder, second-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated robbery, carjacking, and certain other offenses covered by the statute.
Tennessee also has a separate group of offenses where a person generally must serve 85% before becoming eligible for release, although qualifying program credits can affect that percentage within the limits allowed by law.
The date of the offense matters here. If you are reading older articles about Tennessee sentencing, the percentages may be based on laws that applied before the changes that took effect in July 2022.
If You Get a 10-Year Sentence in Tennessee, How Much Time Will You Actually Serve?
This is one of the most common sentencing questions, and the answer starts with the actual offense. A 10-year sentence that requires 100% service is not the same as a 10-year sentence that has release eligibility.
Suppose someone is offered a 10-year sentence as part of a plea. Before deciding what that offer really means, we would want to know:
- What offense are you pleading guilty to?
- What offender range applies?
- Does the offense have release eligibility?
- Is it subject to Tennessee’s 85% or 100% sentencing rules?
- Is the sentence to serve, suspended to probation, or split between confinement and probation?
- Are there other sentences that will run at the same time or be added to this sentence?
Those questions tell you much more than the number “10 years” by itself.
Can You Get Probation Instead of Serving the Entire Sentence in Tennessee?
Some defendants are eligible for probation or another alternative sentence rather than serving the entire sentence in jail or prison. Whether that is an option depends on the offense, sentence, criminal history, and other sentencing rules.
A sentence can also involve split confinement. That means a defendant may serve some time incarcerated and then serve the remainder under probation supervision.
For someone facing a lower-level felony, avoiding a lengthy period of incarceration may be a much bigger issue than calculating a future parole date. The possibilities need to be considered before a plea is entered, not after the sentence has already been imposed.
Do Multiple Criminal Charges Mean the Sentences Get Added Together?
Not necessarily. When someone receives sentences on multiple convictions, the court may have to determine whether those sentences run concurrently or consecutively.
Concurrent sentences run at the same time. Consecutive sentences run one after another.
If someone receives two 4-year sentences that run concurrently, the effective sentence may be 4 years. If those same two sentences run consecutively, the effective sentence may be 8 years.
This can become a major issue when someone is charged with several counts from the same incident, has multiple pending cases, or picks up a new charge while another case is already pending.
How Can I Find Out How Much Time I Am Really Facing in Tennessee?
If you have been arrested, you do not have to guess based on sentencing charts or what someone else received for a similar charge. We can look at the actual offense you are charged with, your criminal history, the offender range that applies, whether the charge has special release rules, and what sentencing options may be available.
The Law Offices of Amanda J. Gentry handles criminal cases in Tennessee and can walk you through what the numbers actually mean. If the State has already made a plea offer, we can also explain what that offer means in terms of incarceration, probation, release eligibility, and any other sentences you may be facing.
If your biggest question right now is, “How much time am I actually looking at?”, contact the Law Offices of Amanda J. Gentry. Bring us the charge, your prior record, or the plea offer you have been given, and we can start there.
