Colorado Department of Corrections has a unit which specializes in handling sentence computation. The department is notified of an offender's sentence through a document called the mittimus. The court issues the mittimus to the department and the mittimus outlines the specifics of an offender's sentence. Once the department receives the mittimus, Time and Release Operations calculates the Parole Eligibility Date (PED) and Mandatory Release Date (MRD) based upon the terms of the sentence and in accordance with the applicable statutes under which the offender was sentenced, and the terms of the sentence(s) as ordered by the court.
PED - Parole eligibility date - this is the first date the offender is eligible to be released to parole. PED is calculated based upon the offense, any presentence confinement credit awarded by the court, and any earned time the offender has received.
MRD - Mandatory release date - this is the maximum term of the offender's incarceration period if the offender is not granted discretionary parole by the parole board. The MRD is calculated based upon the full term of the sentence and is impacted by any presentence confinement credit awarded by the court and any earned time the offender has received.
Good time- is the portion of the maximum sentence (either 50% or 25% as determined by the statutory requirements of the conviction) that is credited to establish a parole eligibility date.
Earned time- is a monthly award of either 10 or 12 days per month (as determined by statute based upon the conviction) which is deducted from the sentence and brings the parole eligibility and mandatory release date closer as it is earned by meeting certain statutory requirements. Additional information regarding earned time, including eligibility requirements and information on the different types of earned time, may be found in Administrative Regulation 625-02 Earned Time, which may be found on our department policies page.
Good time is applied to the full sentence including all time credits/earned time/presentence confinement credit. Earned time cannot be awarded for presentence confinement credit nor if they are in county jail and not available to DOC for intake nor for time served in county jail on a consecutive misdemeanor sentence.
Offender sentence computation is complex and questions or concerns regarding sentence computation are best addressed by subject matter experts. If you have questions or concerns regarding the specifics of your loved one's sentence computation, we encourage you to contact Time and Release Operations directly with your concerns. Send an email that includes the incarcerated individual's name and DOC number to DOC_Time_Release_Operations@state.co.us .