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Cal. Rules of Court, rule 4.451 · Division 5. Felony Sentencing Law

Sentence consecutive to or concurrent with indeterminate term or term in other jurisdiction

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)

(a) When a defendant is sentenced under section 1170 and the sentence is to run consecutively to or concurrently with a sentence imposed under section 1168(b) in the same or another proceeding, the judgment must specify the determinate term imposed under section 1170 computed without reference to the indeterminate sentence, must order that the determinate term be served consecutively to or concurrently with the sentence under section 1168(b), and must identify the proceedings in which the indeterminate sentence was imposed. The term under section 1168(b), and the date of its completion or date of parole or postrelease community supervision, and the sequence in which the sentences are deemed or served, will be determined by correctional authorities as provided by law.

(b) When a defendant is sentenced under sections 1168 or 1170 and the sentence is to run consecutively to or concurrently with a sentence imposed by a court of the United States or of another state or territory, the judgment must specify the term imposed under sections 1168(b) or 1170 computed without reference to the sentence imposed by the other jurisdiction, must identify the other jurisdiction and the proceedings in which the other sentence was imposed, and must indicate whether the sentences are imposed concurrently or consecutively. If the term imposed is to be served consecutively to the term imposed by the other jurisdiction, the court must order that the California term be served commencing on the completion of the sentence imposed by the other jurisdiction.

Notes and commentary — not rule text

History

Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2018; previously amended effective January 1, 1979, July 1, 2003, and January 1. 2007.)

(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2018; previously amended January 1, 2007.)

Rule 4.451 amended effective January 1, 2018; adopted as rule 451 effective July 1, 1977; previously renumbered effective January 1, 2001; previously amended effective January 1, 1979, July 1, 2003, and January 1, 2007.

Advisory Committee Comment

Subdivision (a). The provisions of section 1170.1(a), which use a one-third formula to calculate subordinate consecutive terms, can logically be applied only when all the sentences are imposed under section 1170. Indeterminate sentences are imposed under section 1168(b). Since the duration of the indeterminate term cannot be known to the court, subdivision (a) states the only feasible mode of sentencing. (See People v. Felix (2000) 22 Cal.4th 651, 654-657; People v. McGahuey (1981) 121 Cal.App.3d 524, 530-532.)

Subdivision (b). On the authority to sentence consecutively to the sentence of another jurisdiction and the effect of such a sentence, see In re Helpman (1968) 267 Cal.App.2d 307 and cases cited at page 310, footnote 3. The mode of sentencing required by subdivision (b) is necessary to avoid the illogical conclusion that the total of the consecutive sentences will depend on whether the other jurisdiction or California is the first to pronounce judgment.

Source of truth

Edition
As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
Official file
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/four/rule4_451
Text hash
sha256 c93473f5deeea5f6481b4a14c079702dc1f6524d4a39f2abb36af657aff6f1a3
Composed by
compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.