Determinate sentence is use by some states; the judge is who determinate the time that the offender will serve in jail. In this type of sentence, the judge can’t use discretion at the time of sentencing he only apply the law as it is. The period of time that these offenders will spend in jail cannot be change by parole board. In a determinate system, the offender knows when he will be released from jail. The released time is determinate by the judge. Overall, the judge has to review the pre-sentence and who the offender complaint with the court procedure before issue a date for the offender to be released. The determinate sentence is referring as “the sentence is determined”.
Indeterminate Sentence
The indeterminate sentence that the judge will do for these offenders is based on the range and not by period of time. In this cases the offenders receive a sentence of one to five years. The minimum is one year and the maximum is five. Perhaps, the time of the offender’s time to serve in prison will be determinate by difference factors. While the offenders are in prison, the parole officers will give a date for a hearing in where they will evaluate the date for his released. Many states require for these offenders to serve at least half of their time of their sentence before reviewing their case.
The indeterminate sentence is referring as “the sentence is not determinate”.
Sentencing in the State of Utah
The state of Utah uses the model of indeterminate sentence. The sentence imposed to the offenders are base in a range of time. Many elements contribute in determinate the range of the time for an offender. As a result, the legislature will be the one who will determinate base on the factors of the severity of the crime, to give the right sentence. The court is the one who will impose the applicable indeterminate sentence. In the state of Utah this are the typical sentence:
• 0-5 years for 3rd Degree Felonies;
• 1-15 years for 2nd Degree Felonies;