What To Know About How Credit for Time Served Is Determined

People accused of crimes have the right to meet privately with a criminal defense lawyer before police question them; during these meetings they can discuss their strategy for the case. Sometimes the defendant’s main goal is to prove his or her innocence; in these cases, the case usually goes to trial, unless the defense lawyer can persuade the court to drop the charges before the case gets to the trial phase. More often, though, the defendant’s main goal is to avoid jail time, or to spend as little time behind bars as possible. This scenario is more common than the previous one; in more than 90 percent of cases that proceed far enough for the defendant to enter a plea, the defendant pleads guilty. Pretrial intervention programs and plea bargains increase the likelihood that the penalty will be probation instead of incarceration. If the court sentences you to jail, though, the best jail sentence you can get is time served. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains how sentences of time served work and describes several recent cases where judges sentenced South Florida defendants to time served.

Can You Get Out of Jail Free at Your Sentencing Hearing?

You can only get sentenced to jail time if the court convicts you of a crime. Despite this, the state can sometimes detain you in the jail of the county where your case is pending. If the court sets a cash bail amount, you must stay in jail until you pay the bail or until your case ends in a trial verdict or a guilty plea. In some cases, the court refuses to set a bail amount and insists on keeping the defendant detained. This happens if there is a high risk that the defendant will commit violent crimes before the trial, leave the state, intimidate witnesses, or destroy evidence.

At the sentencing hearing, the court might give credit for the time the defendant has already been in jail, with or without adding more jail time at sentencing. Since credit for time served applies only to county jail and not to state prison, it usually happens in misdemeanor cases.

School Employee Sentenced to Probation Plus Time Served for Inappropriate Relationship With Student

A Port St. Lucie man pleaded guilty in July 2026 to the charge of offense against students by a school authority figure. He received a sentence of two years of probation, plus credit for the two days he spent in jail while his case was pending. Another condition of his sentence is that he must permanently surrender his teacher’s license. News reports did not say whether he must register as a sex offender; some misdemeanor convictions involving sexual harassment of minors require sex offender registration.

The defendant worked as a career counselor at a high school in Palm Beach County until 2025. In the summer of 2025, a student at the school told police that the career counselor had pursued a romantic relationship with her. She showed the police text messages that the two of them had exchanged, including messages in which he advised her to delete the messages.

Evicted Tenant Sentenced to Probation Plus Time Served for Threatening Apartment Manager

A woman was evicted from an apartment complex in August 2025. The reason for her eviction was behavior that the property management company described as “disruptive and unsanitary,” including but not limited to harassment of employees; the problems went on for at least two months before her eviction. In the months following her eviction, she frequently returned to the apartment complex and threatened and harassed the staff. She also sent text messages to the property manager and other employees. At least one of these messages involved a threat of physical violence, and several of them included harassment based on protected characteristics of the recipients, such as their self-reported or perceived race, religion, or sexual orientation.

The defendant remained in jail for 35 days, starting at the time of her arrest in October 2025. She eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served, plus five years of probation; the court will review the probation sentence after three years and may end it early if the defendant complies with the requirements. She must also take anger management classes, pay court costs, and not have contact with the employees of the apartment complex.

Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys

A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges, and the state detained you in county jail while your case was pending.  Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.

Sources:

wpbf.com/article/florida-man-pleads-guilty-student-relationship-west-palm-beach/71873406

wpbf.com/article/florida-west-palm-beach-resident-pleads-guilty-threatening-apartment-staff/71787253

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0921/Sections/0921.161.html