Check the prison's math in California

1. Get the official document

Official name: Legal Status Summary (LSS), CDC Form 188

Under 15 CCR 3042(d), case records staff compute credits and forward the new Legal Status Summary to the incarcerated person whenever release dates change. Ask the institution's Case Records office for the current LSS. [CDCR: Title 15 regulations (15 CCR 3042, 3075.1)] (opens in new tab)

Official online lookup (some dates appear here): [CDCR Inmate Locator (CIRIS)] (opens in new tab)

2. Which credits should appear

• Good Conduct Credit (rates since Dec 28, 2021): workgroups A1, A2, B and D1 earn 50% (nonviolent) or 33.3% (violent). Workgroup M (minimum custody) earns 66.6% or 33.3%. Workgroup F (fire camp) earns 66.6% or 50%. Workgroups C and D2 (discipline) earn 0%. [CDCR: In-Prison Credit-Earning Opportunities (Prop 57)] (opens in new tab)
• Milestone Completion Credits: 1 to 12 weeks in a 12-month period for finishing rehabilitative or job-readiness programs. [CDCR: In-Prison Credit-Earning Opportunities (Prop 57)] (opens in new tab)
• Rehabilitative Achievement Credits: 10 days for each 52 hours of approved self-help or volunteer activity in a 12-month period. [CDCR: In-Prison Credit-Earning Opportunities (Prop 57)] (opens in new tab)
• Educational Merit Credits: 180 days for a high school diploma or equivalency, a college degree, or the Offender Mentor Certification Program. [CDCR: In-Prison Credit-Earning Opportunities (Prop 57)] (opens in new tab)
• Extraordinary Conduct Credits: up to 12 months for a heroic act or exceptional help keeping a prison safe. [CDCR: In-Prison Credit-Earning Opportunities (Prop 57)] (opens in new tab)

Full credit rules

3. Common-errors checklist

• Jail (pretrial) credit: days spent in county jail before sentencing are missing or miscounted. Compare with the jail booking record and the judgment.
• Sentence start date: the computation begins on the wrong day.
• Concurrent vs. consecutive: the judgment says one thing and the computation does the other.
• Multiple cases: credit applied to the wrong case, or a case missing. Rules on splitting credit between cases vary by state.
• Earned credits not posted: months of work, school or programs, or completed certificates, do not appear.
• Losses and restorations: credits taken without a finished disciplinary hearing, or restored credits never added back.
• Wrong law version: credit rules applied from a different date than the offense date.
• Revocation time: time on parole or supervision handled differently than the rules say.
• Detainers or holds: another case or agency may keep the person past the computed date (see detainers).
• Typos: sentence length, number of counts, or dates copied wrong from the judgment.

Have ready: the judgment, jail booking records, program certificates and disciplinary decisions.

4. If you find an error

• Write to the records office naming the exact error, with copies (never originals).
• If it is not fixed, use the agency's official grievance or dispute process.
• If the error is in the judgment itself (for example jail credit), the court may need to correct it. Talk to a lawyer or the public defender.

OutSooner explains the process; it does not prepare legal filings.

Getting lost good time restored · Make a release plan · Eligibility pre-check