If you have spent time in jail or prison for any offense unrelatedto your unpaid tickets, regardless of how serious or how minor, you can request that time in jail for the other offense be credited towards your tickets as well. This is called “jail credit.”
As of September 1, 2021, the court handling the tickets is now required to give you credit at the rate of no less than $150 per day for time spent in jail or prison after September 1, 2021 for a conviction on an unrelated offense. The court may also, within its discretion, give you jail credit for time spent incarcerated pretrial (no conviction) and/or time spent incarcerated prior to September 1, 2021 on unrelated offenses.
Note that you are entitled to jail credit by law if you spend any time in jail related to the ticket itself.
Some courts have a form that they want you to fill out to request credit, so check their website or ask the clerk.
If there’s no form, you’ll need to write a letter to the judge asking that you be given jail credit towards your fines and costs for the dates you spent in jail. Go to Documents and Forms and download the "Letter Requesting Time Served" for a sample letter.
If you haven't already entered a plea and been convicted, you'll need to first plead Guilty or No Contest in order to be sentenced. You can often do this in the letter without going to court.
Be sure to include the case number(s) and the charge(s) for which you are asking for jail credit. Also include the dates you spent in jail or prison.
You’ll also need to include proof from the jail or prison that you were there on those dates. You can get this by asking the sheriff or another official at the jail where you were confined.
Ask the judge to waive the remainder of what is owed under Art. 45.0491 given that community service would be a hardship for you.
