Earned Sentence Credit refers to credit of up to 180 days on an offender's incarceration that can be issued at the sole discretion of the Director of the Department of Corrections or his designee. Similar to Statutory Sentence Credit and Program Sentence Credit, offenders may lose Earned Sentence Credit based on their behavior while in custody.

For an offender to be eligible for an award of Earned Sentence Credit, first and foremost, he or she must have served more than 60 days in IDOC custody and be serving a sentence for offenses that are not excluded from an award pursuant to Section 3-6-3(a)(3) of the Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/3-6-3(a)(3)). Additionally eligibility for Earned Sentence Credit shall be based on but not limited to the following:

• results of any risk/needs assessment or other relevant assessments or evaluations administered by the Department using a validated instrument,


• the circumstances of the crime,


• any history of conviction for a forcible felony


• the offender’s behavior and disciplinary history while incarcerated,


• the offender’s commitment to rehabilitation, including participation in programming offered by the department,


• if recommended by a court, must have completed substance abuse treatment or been waived from the requirement by the Department, and


• must have completed mandatory sex offender treatment (if necessary) or been waived of the requirement by the Department (if applicable).

It is important to note that even if an offender is potentially eligible for an award of Earned Sentence Credit, the offender should not and does not have an outright expectation to receive an award.

The Department is working both carefully and diligently to review offenders for Earned Sentence Credit pursuant to the above statutory eligibility requirements and comprehensive discretionary analysis.

For those with family or friends within IDOC we appreciate your patience as the Department works to safely and responsibly implement the Earned Sentence Credit Program. Because of the many factors the Department intends to consider for each potentially eligible offender, it is impossible for the Department to project whether or when any specific offender will receive an award of Earned Sentence Credit. It is also not possible for the Department to respond to inquiries concerning an offender's likelihood of receiving an award of Earned Sentence Credit due to laws that prevent the disclosure of confidential master record file information. If an offender is projected to have a revised parole date as a result of an award of Earned Sentence Credit, the inmate will be notified, and his or her time adjustment will be reflected on the IDOC website under the offender's profile in the Offender Search link.