No. The Earned Time Act has not been passed in New York. As of early 2026, the bill sits in committee in both chambers of the state legislature and has not been scheduled for a floor vote in either one.1New York State Senate. Senate Bill S342 People in New York state prisons are not earning sentence reductions under this proposal. The credits available today come from the programs already written into Correction Law Section 803, which the Earned Time Act would expand if it ever became law.
Where the Bill Stands Now
The current version of the Earned Time Act was introduced as Senate Bill S342 and Assembly Bill A1085 during the 2025–2026 legislative session. Both versions were referred to their respective labor committees and have stayed there without a scheduled vote.1New York State Senate. Senate Bill S342 The bill is not new. It has been introduced in earlier sessions as well, and in each one it failed to move past committee.
Supporters, including the New York City Comptroller’s office, have published analyses arguing the act would cut incarceration costs and improve reentry outcomes. That advocacy has not translated into enough legislative support to bring the bill to the floor.
This matters because a few online resources describe the Earned Time Act as if it is already the law. It is not. If you are tracking a sentence or planning for a release date, the rules that apply are the existing ones below, not the proposed ones.
What the Act Would Change If Passed
The Earned Time Act would roughly triple the merit time reductions available for people serving indeterminate sentences and nearly double them for determinate sentences. Current law allows a one-sixth reduction of the minimum period on an indeterminate sentence. The bill would raise that to one-half. For determinate sentences, the current merit time reduction is one-seventh of the term; the bill would raise it to one-quarter.1New York State Senate. Senate Bill S342
In concrete terms: someone serving a 12-year indeterminate sentence with a 6-year minimum can currently earn a one-year merit time reduction, which is one-sixth of the minimum. Under the proposed act, that same person could earn a three-year reduction. The gap between those two numbers is a large part of why the bill has met resistance.
Sentence Credits Available in New York Today
Even without the Earned Time Act, several existing programs can shorten time behind bars. They fall into two categories: good behavior time and merit time. Both can apply to the same sentence.
Good Behavior Time Allowances
Anyone serving an indeterminate or determinate sentence in a state facility, other than a life sentence, can earn good behavior credits. The maximum reduction is one-third of the maximum term on an indeterminate sentence and one-seventh of the term on a determinate sentence.2New York State Senate. New York Correction Law COR 803 – Good Behavior Allowances Against Indeterminate and Determinate Sentences These credits are not automatic. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision evaluates whether a person has maintained satisfactory disciplinary conduct before approving the reduction.
Good behavior credits move up the date a person becomes eligible for conditional release. On a determinate sentence, conditional release begins after six-sevenths of the term is served, and good behavior time can bring that date forward.3New York State Senate. New York Penal Code 70.40 – Release on Parole; Conditional Release; Presumptive Release
Merit Time
Merit time goes further than good behavior. To qualify, a person must keep a clean disciplinary record and complete at least one of the following:
- A high school equivalency diploma (formerly the GED) earned while incarcerated
- A certified alcohol or drug treatment program
- At least six months in a vocational trade program, with a job title earned
- 400 or more hours on a community work crew or outside assignment
Someone who meets the requirements can earn a one-sixth reduction of the minimum sentence for indeterminate terms, or a one-seventh reduction for certain determinate drug sentences.4Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Earned Eligibility, Merit Time, Presumptive Release, Supplemental Merit Time, Limited Credit Time Allowance Programs A related program, Earned Eligibility, reviews program progress and behavior to decide whether to issue a certificate recommending favorable consideration at a parole hearing. It is limited to people with indeterminate sentences whose minimums are eight years or less.
Who Is Excluded From Merit Time
Merit time is not available to everyone. Current law excludes people serving sentences for violent felony offenses, A-I felonies (other than certain drug offenses), sex offenses under Article 130 of the Penal Law, offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children, manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, and incest.2New York State Senate. New York Correction Law COR 803 – Good Behavior Allowances Against Indeterminate and Determinate Sentences The statute defines these exclusions by reference to other sections of the Penal Law rather than listing individual crime names, so the precise scope depends on which offenses fall within the referenced categories.
People excluded from merit time can still earn basic good behavior time allowances. That distinction is one of the most commonly misunderstood pieces of New York’s credit system. A serious felony conviction does not bar every form of sentence reduction; it bars merit time specifically.
How Credits Combine
Good behavior time rewards compliance with institutional rules. Merit time rewards completing educational, vocational, or treatment programs. Both can apply to the same sentence.2New York State Senate. New York Correction Law COR 803 – Good Behavior Allowances Against Indeterminate and Determinate Sentences Someone serving a determinate sentence who earns both good behavior time (up to one-seventh of the term) and merit time for a qualifying drug offense (another one-seventh) could see a combined reduction of two-sevenths. Losing one through a disciplinary infraction or an incomplete program means only the other applies.
Federal Earned Time Credits Are a Separate System
The federal First Step Act, signed into law on December 21, 2018, created its own earned time credit system for people in federal prison.5Federal Bureau of Prisons. First Step Act Overview It has no effect on anyone in New York state custody. Under that federal structure, every 30 days of successful participation in an approved recidivism reduction program or productive activity earns 10 days of time credit, with an additional 5 days available for people classified as minimum or low risk whose risk scores have not increased over two consecutive assessments.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3632 – Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction Program and Recommendations Those credits can be applied toward earlier transfer to home confinement, a residential reentry center, or supervised release.
Federal good conduct time runs on a different track. People serving more than one year can earn up to 54 days of credit for each year of the sentence, provided the Bureau of Prisons determines they showed exemplary compliance with institutional rules.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3624 – Release of a Prisoner The First Step Act changed the calculation so that the 54 days are measured against the sentence imposed by the court rather than against time actually served.
If you came looking for the New York law, the short version is unchanged: the Earned Time Act has not passed, Section 803 still governs, and the credits a person can earn depend on their sentence type, their offense, their disciplinary record, and the programs they complete.