What term describes a sentence for an offense that may be served concurrently with a sentence for a different offense?

• A. Certification
• B. Codicil
• C. Concurrent sentence
• D. Calendar

Answer: (C)

When a defendant faces more than one offense, the court may order the sentences to run at the same time. This arrangement is a concurrent sentence. It means the sentences overlap and are served together, so the total time is usually the duration of the longest individual sentence rather than the sum of all sentences. For example, if one offense carries 5 years and another 3 years, a concurrent sentence typically yields 5 years total served. If the sentences were consecutive, the total would be the sum, 8 years. The other terms—certification, codicil, and calendar—pertain to different legal concepts and don’t describe how multiple sentences are scheduled to run.