In Fox v. State,[1] the court of appeals held that a criminal defendant is not entitled to credit against his sentence for voluntary placement at a community residential center. Fox appealed from a superior court decision upholding the Alaska Parole Board’s decision to deny credit against his sentence for time spent in a community residential center (CRC). Fox was given a choice between residing at a CRC or having a report filed by a parole officer after testing positive for marijuana while on mandatory parole. He argued that he was not residing in the CRC voluntarily, and in 2013 asked the parole board to grant him credit against his sentence for the 18 days spent at the CRC. The parole board denied credit, and the superior court affirmed, concluding that a voluntary stay at a CRC was not equivalent to the conditions approximating incarceration needed to obtain credit. The court of appeals found that the court’s evidentiary hearing and the record suggested that Fox knew he could refuse to be placed at the CRC and that the stay was voluntary. Affirming the lower court’s decision, the court of appeals held that voluntary placement at a community residential center does not necessarily meet the qualifications for credit against a defendant’s sentence.
[1] 436 P.3d 1101 (Alaska Ct. App. 2019).
