Updated August 2026 | The Bulldog Law | California Criminal Defense

Concurrent sentences run at the same time, so a person convicted of two crimes serves only the longer term. Consecutive sentences run back to back, one after the other. In California, concurrent is the default: under Penal Code 669, if the judge does not say how the terms run, they run concurrently. When a judge does order consecutive felony terms, Penal Code 1170.1 caps most of the added time at one-third of the middle term for each additional count, so two three-year felonies stacked consecutively produce four years, not six. Penal Code 654 goes further and bars any consecutive punishment when the crimes were really one act with one objective.

The difference between concurrent and consecutive is often the single largest variable in a plea negotiation or a sentencing hearing, and it is decided by rules most people have never heard of until they are standing in court. Walks through the California math with examples, covers the rules that require or forbid consecutive time, and contrasts the federal system, where the default runs the other way. If you or a family member is facing sentencing on multiple counts, contact The Bulldog Law or call (888) 928-1609.

Concurrent Sentence: Definition

A concurrent sentence is one that is served simultaneously with another sentence. If a defendant is convicted of burglary and receiving stolen property and the judge imposes three years and two years to run concurrently, the two-year term is absorbed inside the three-year term. The person serves three years, both sentences are complete when the longer one ends, and the presentence custody credits apply to both. Concurrent sentences can be imposed in the same case, in different cases in the same court, or in cases from different counties, and a new sentence can be ordered to run concurrently with a term the person is already serving.

Consecutive Sentence: Definition

A consecutive sentence begins when the previous sentence ends. Using the same example, three years and two years run consecutively would, in most states, produce five years. California is different. Because of the one-third rule in Penal Code 1170.1, the second felony adds one-third of its middle term rather than its full term, so the actual result is usually far less than simple addition. That rule has important exceptions, discussed below, and it does not apply to misdemeanors, which run consecutively at full length. Consecutive sentences can also be ordered against a term the person is already serving, in which case the new term starts when the old one is finished.

Penal Code 669: Concurrent Is the Default

Penal Code 669 is the statute that requires a California judge to decide the question. When a person is convicted of two or more crimes, the judgment on the second or later conviction must state whether the terms run concurrently or consecutively. Three features of the statute matter to defendants:

• Silence means concurrent. If the judge fails to specify, or did not know about an earlier unfinished sentence, the court has 60 days from the start of the later term to fix the issue. If the court does not act within 60 days, the sentences run concurrently by operation of law (Penal Code 669(b)).
• Life terms can be stacked. Life sentences, with or without parole, may be ordered consecutive to each other, to enhancements, and to any felony term. When a determinate term is consecutive to a life term, the determinate term is served first, and none of it counts toward parole eligibility on the life term (Penal Code 669(a)).
• Prison wins over jail. If concurrent terms include one that must be served in state prison, all of them are served in prison, even if another count would otherwise be a county jail term under realignment (Penal Code 669(d)). Our guide to Penal Code 1170(h) realignment sentencing explains which felonies go to county jail.

The default matters most in negotiated pleas. A plea agreement that says nothing about how counts run is, in California, an agreement for concurrent time, and a prosecutor who wants consecutive terms has to say so on the record.

How Consecutive Felony Terms Are Calculated: The One-Third Rule

California uses determinate sentencing triads: most felonies carry a low, middle, and upper term (for example, 16 months, two years, or three years). When a judge orders consecutive determinate terms, Penal Code 1170.1(a) sets the formula:

• Principal term: the count with the longest term, including any enhancements attached to that count. The judge picks low, middle, or upper for it.
• Subordinate terms: each additional consecutive felony adds one-third of its middle term, regardless of which term the judge might otherwise have chosen, plus one-third of any specific enhancement attached to that count.
• Aggregate term: principal plus all subordinates, plus any enhancements that attach to the whole sentence, such as prior prison terms.

Example

A defendant is convicted of first-degree burglary (two, four, or six years) and grand theft (16 months, two, or three years). The judge selects the middle term of four years on the burglary as the principal term and orders the grand theft consecutive. The grand theft subordinate term is one-third of two years, or eight months. The aggregate sentence is four years eight months. Run concurrently, the same convictions would produce four years. Run consecutively at full length, as many other states do, they would produce six years.

Exceptions that run at full term

• Violent sex offenses under Penal Code 667.6(c) and (d): full, separate, consecutive terms for each offense, mandatory when the crimes involved separate victims or separate occasions.
• Felonies committed while in prison or jail, or while on escape, under Penal Code 1170.1(c): full consecutive terms starting after the sentence being served.
• Three Strikes sentences: the one-third rule does not apply to the doubled or 25-to-life terms imposed under the Three Strikes law.
• Misdemeanors: a consecutive misdemeanor term is its full length, and a misdemeanor consecutive to a felony is served in county jail before or after the felony term as the court directs.
• Firearm and great bodily injury enhancements (Penal Code 12022.5, 12022.53, 12022.7): enhancements on the principal term run at full length; enhancements on subordinate terms run at one-third.

Penal Code 654: When Consecutive Sentences Are Prohibited

Penal Code 654 is the rule against double punishment. When one act, or a course of conduct that was indivisible because it had a single criminal objective, violates more than one statute, the defendant may be punished under only one of them. The judge does not dismiss the other count; the conviction stands, but its sentence is stayed, and the stay becomes permanent when the punished term is served. Common examples:

• Brandishing a gun and assault with a firearm arising from the same confrontation: one objective, one punishment.
• Possession of a controlled substance and possession of the same substance for sale: the possession is stayed.
• Driving under the influence and driving with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level for the same drive: one is stayed.

Since 2022, Penal Code 654 lets the judge choose which count to punish, rather than requiring the longest term. Where Penal Code 654 does not apply, because the acts had separate objectives or the defendant had time to reflect between them, the judge decides between concurrent and consecutive using the factors in California Rule of Court 4.425: whether the crimes involved separate acts of violence or threats, were committed at different times or places, or were independent of each other, along with the general aggravating and mitigating circumstances of the case. A sentencing brief that shows a single objective, or that argues the mitigating factors, is where defense attorneys win this issue.

When Consecutive Sentences Are Mandatory

A judge's discretion is removed in several situations:

• Three Strikes, Penal Code 667(c)(6) and (7): when a person with a prior strike is convicted of more than one current felony not committed on the same occasion and not arising from the same set of operative facts, the terms must run consecutively.
• Certain sex offenses, Penal Code 667.6(d): full consecutive terms for specified offenses against separate victims or on separate occasions.
• Crimes while in custody or on escape, Penal Code 1170.1(c) and 4532.
• Some enhancements, including most firearm enhancements, which must attach consecutively to the underlying count.

Everything else is discretionary, which means everything else is negotiable.

Concurrent vs Consecutive in Plea Bargaining

Because the difference can be measured in years, sentence structure is frequently the real subject of a plea negotiation. Common outcomes include a plea to multiple counts with an agreement that all terms run concurrent, a dismissal of counts in exchange for a stipulated aggregate term, or an agreement that leaves concurrent versus consecutive to the judge's discretion with both sides free to argue. Before accepting any of these, a defendant should understand the difference between a no contest and a guilty plea, the immigration effect of the aggregate sentence length (a term of one year or more converts many offenses into aggravated felonies for immigration purposes), and whether a suspended sentence or an alternative sentencing option is available instead of custody. If the prosecution's case has the kind of problems described in our article on the nine signs a case is weak, the leverage to demand concurrent time is greater.

Credits, Parole, and Where the Time Is Served

Presentence custody credits under Penal Code 2900.5 are applied once. With concurrent terms, the credits reduce each term; with consecutive terms, they reduce the aggregate. Conduct credits during the sentence accrue against the aggregate term. For determinate terms, parole or post-release community supervision begins when the aggregate term is complete; our guide to parole vs. probation explains what follows release. For indeterminate life terms, the minimum eligible parole date is calculated after any consecutive determinate term is served in full. And whether the aggregate is served in county jail or state prison depends on the offenses involved and Penal Code 669(d); see jail vs. prison in California.

A person already serving a sentence who is convicted in a new case can also ask the new court to run the new term concurrently with the existing one. Resentencing laws, including the felony murder resentencing provisions of SB 1437 and Penal Code 1172.1, can reopen an old aggregate sentence and give a court the chance to convert consecutive terms to concurrent ones. Our post-conviction relief page covers those options.

Federal Sentences: The Default Runs the Other Way

In federal court, 18 U.S.C. 3584 sets the opposite presumption. Multiple terms imposed at the same time run concurrently unless the judge orders otherwise, but a term imposed on a defendant who is already serving another sentence, including a state sentence, runs consecutively unless the judge affirmatively orders it concurrent. There is no one-third rule; federal consecutive terms are full length, and the Sentencing Guidelines grouping rules in Chapter 3 determine how counts combine. The federal statute also lets a judge run a new federal sentence concurrently with an anticipated state sentence that has not yet been imposed. Our page on federal sentencing explains the guidelines process.

The practical consequence: a person facing both state and federal charges for related conduct needs both cases coordinated, because the order in which the sentences are imposed can determine whether the total is the longer of the two or the sum of both.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean when sentences run concurrently?

Concurrent sentences are served at the same time. If a judge imposes three years on one count and two years on another and orders them to run concurrently, the person serves three years total, and both sentences are satisfied when the longer one ends. Custody credits earned before sentencing apply to both.

What does it mean when sentences run consecutively?

Consecutive sentences are served one after the other. In California, consecutive felony terms are calculated under Penal Code 1170.1: the longest term is the principal term, and each additional consecutive felony adds one-third of its middle term. Two felonies with a three-year middle term each, run consecutively, produce four years, not six. Certain offenses and enhancements are exceptions and run at full length.

Is concurrent or consecutive the default in California?

Concurrent. Under Penal Code 669(b), if the judge does not state how the terms run, they run concurrently, and if the court does not fix the question within 60 days after the person starts serving the later sentence, concurrent becomes final. Federal court is the opposite: under 18 U.S.C. 3584, terms imposed at different times run consecutively unless the judge orders otherwise.

Can a judge give consecutive sentences for one incident?

Sometimes, but Penal Code 654 limits it. When a single act or an indivisible course of conduct with one criminal objective violates more than one statute, the court may punish under only one; the sentence on the other count must be stayed, not run consecutively. If the acts had separate objectives or were separated in time so the defendant had a chance to reflect, consecutive terms are allowed, and California Rule of Court 4.425 lists the factors judges use.

Which California crimes carry mandatory consecutive sentences?

The most common are Three Strikes cases where the current felonies were committed on separate occasions (Penal Code 667(c)(6) and (7)); specified violent sex offenses against separate victims or on separate occasions (Penal Code 667.6(d)), which run at full term rather than one-third; felonies committed while in prison or on escape (Penal Code 1170.1(c)); and most firearm enhancements, which attach consecutively to the count they belong to.

Related Guides

• Jail vs. prison in California
• Penal Code 1170(h) realignment sentencing
• Parole vs. probation in California

Facing Sentencing on Multiple Counts? Call The Bulldog Law

The structure of a sentence is argued, not assigned. The Bulldog Law prepares sentencing briefs on Penal Code 654 and Rule 4.425 issues, negotiates concurrent-time plea agreements, and pursues resentencing for clients serving stacked terms across California. Visit our criminal defense page, call (888) 928-1609, or reach us online for a confidential consultation.