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Kansas Supreme Court Holds Inpatient Drug Treatment Time Counts as Jail Time in Consecutive Non-Drug Case
The Supreme Court of Kansas has held that a prisoner is entitled to have time spent in an inpatient drug treatment facility while on probation count as jail time in a consecutive non-drug case.
Heather Hopkins was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to 18 months on probation with an underlying sentence of 11 months and a requirement that she complete mandatory inpatient substance abuse treatment. She was subsequently convicted of attempted aggravated robbery and obstruction of legal process, and received a consecutive sentence of 36 months on probation with an underlying sentence of 41 months.
Hopkins absconded and her probation in both cases was revoked. The district court then ordered her to serve the underlying sentences consecutively and denied her request to credit her non-drug sentence with the time she spent in the inpatient drug treatment facility prior to the revocation. Hopkins appealed.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court, finding there was no evidence that inpatient treatment had been recommended by Hopkins’ probation officer or imposed as a condition of probation in the non-drug case.
On review, the Kansas Supreme Court held that the right to jail time credit is statutory and covered by K.S.A. 21-4614a(a). Although Hopkins admitted that she was barred by statute from receiving jail credit for drug treatment time in her drug case, the clear language of the statute gave her the right to such credit in the non-drug case. There is no requirement that drug treatment be a condition of probation in the case for which the jail time is sought; rather, jail time credit is mandated in “‘any criminal action in which probation ... is revoked ... for the time which the defendant has spent in a residential facility while on probation.’”
Therefore, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remanded the case with directions to resentence Hopkins with credit for the inpatient drug treatment time as jail time in her attempted aggravated robbery case. See: Kansas v. Hopkins, 295 Kan. 579, 285 P.3d 1021 (Kan. 2012).
Heather Hopkins was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to 18 months on probation with an underlying sentence of 11 months and a requirement that she complete mandatory inpatient substance abuse treatment. She was subsequently convicted of attempted aggravated robbery and obstruction of legal process, and received a consecutive sentence of 36 months on probation with an underlying sentence of 41 months.
Hopkins absconded and her probation in both cases was revoked. The district court then ordered her to serve the underlying sentences consecutively and denied her request to credit her non-drug sentence with the time she spent in the inpatient drug treatment facility prior to the revocation. Hopkins appealed.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court, finding there was no evidence that inpatient treatment had been recommended by Hopkins’ probation officer or imposed as a condition of probation in the non-drug case.
On review, the Kansas Supreme Court held that the right to jail time credit is statutory and covered by K.S.A. 21-4614a(a). Although Hopkins admitted that she was barred by statute from receiving jail credit for drug treatment time in her drug case, the clear language of the statute gave her the right to such credit in the non-drug case. There is no requirement that drug treatment be a condition of probation in the case for which the jail time is sought; rather, jail time credit is mandated in “‘any criminal action in which probation ... is revoked ... for the time which the defendant has spent in a residential facility while on probation.’”
Therefore, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remanded the case with directions to resentence Hopkins with credit for the inpatient drug treatment time as jail time in her attempted aggravated robbery case. See: Kansas v. Hopkins, 295 Kan. 579, 285 P.3d 1021 (Kan. 2012).
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