Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A02-1710-CR-2215 | February 16, 2018 Page 1 of 7

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of establishing 

the defense of res judicata, collateral 

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Kimberly A. Jackson

Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General of Indiana

Lyubov Gore

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Mark Buggs,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff.

February 16, 2018

Court of Appeals Case No.

49A02-1710-CR-2215

Appeal from the Marion Superior 

Court

The Honorable Alicia A. Gooden, 

Judge

The Honorable Richard E. 

Hagenmaier, Commissioner

Trial Court Cause No.

49G21-1307-FA-42721

Najam, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 49A02-1710-CR-2215 | February 16, 2018 Page 2 of 7

Statement of the Case

[1] Mark Buggs appeals the trial court’s sentencing order following the revocation 

of his placement in a community corrections facility. Buggs raises one issue for 

our review, namely, whether the trial court erred when it denied him good time 

credit for sixty days he served in the work release program. Buggs contends 

that community corrections lacked the authority to deprive him of good time 

credit. The State does not dispute Buggs’ contention on appeal. We agree and

reverse and remand with instructions.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On March 3, 2014, Buggs pleaded guilty to dealing in cocaine, as a Class B 

felony, and two counts of neglect of a dependent, as Class C felonies. On April 

14, the trial court accepted his guilty plea and sentenced him to an aggregate 

term of six years, with three years to be served in the Department of Correction 

and three years to be served in the Marion County Community Corrections 

Program. 

[3] On April 14, 2015, the trial court approved Buggs’ placement in a community 

transition program. Buggs began his placement in the Marion County 

Community Corrections Work Release Program on October 20. On October 

27, Buggs was deprived of sixty days of good time credit.1 On December 15, 

 

1

 There is no information in the record to indicate the reason Community Corrections deprived Buggs of

sixty days of good time credit. 
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the State filed a notice of community corrections violation, which alleged that 

Buggs had violated two conditions of his placement because he failed to return 

to the residential center after he had been released on an approved pass. The 

trial court then issued an order for his arrest, and he was arrested on December 

25, 2016. On August 3, 2017, the trial court held a hearing at which Buggs 

admitted to both of the violations. The parties then discussed the credit time 

that Buggs had been denied, and the following conversation occurred:

THE COURT: So it’s 90, 90 days, so it’s 60 days on the sheet 

but I think it’s 90 days. 

[Community Corrections Team Officer]: He had 30 days 

deprived while he was in DOC[,] that was on September 16, 

2015.

THE COURT: Okay, all right and add 60 at work release.

[Community Corrections Team Officer]: 60 yeah work release. 

THE COURT: All right. 

Tr. Vol. II at 5. The State did not object or otherwise dispute those statements 

made by the Community Corrections Team Officer. 

[4] Buggs then asserted that the community corrections program did not have the 

authority to take away credit time. In response, the State stated: “I’ve heard of 

community corrections being able to take away good time credit[.]” Id. at 6.

On September 7, the trial court held a sentencing hearing. At the start of that
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hearing, Buggs stated that there were two questions of credit time at issue. The 

first was thirty days he was denied while he was at the Department of 

Correction.

2

 The second “is 60 days taken from work release under Marion 

County Community Corrections[.]” Id. at 10. The State responded and stated 

that Buggs “was given a hearing and opportunity and he admitted to the 

violation so his credit time was deprived at work release.” Id. at 11. The trial 

court held that community corrections could deny credit time. The trial court 

revoked Buggs’ placement in community corrections and gave him credit time 

for 881 actual days served plus 791 credit days. In its sentencing order, the trial 

court noted that Buggs lost thirty days of credit time while he was in the 

Department of Correction and sixty days while he was in the work release 

program. This appeal ensued. 

Discussion and Decision

[5] Buggs contends that the trial court erred when it honored the community 

corrections’ deprivation of credit time and withheld sixty days of good time 

credit because community corrections did not have the authority to deprive him 

of credit time. 

[6] We first note that the State contends Buggs has waived this issue on appeal

because he failed to provide an adequate record. Specifically, the State asserts 

that “the only documentation [Buggs] has included with respect to the credit 

 

2

 Buggs does not appeal the deprivation of those thirty days. 
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time calculation on appeal is two one-page documents, one page of which has 

no information with respect to who authored it and the second of which was 

allegedly authored by someone in community corrections.” Appellee’s Br. at 

11-12. Further, the State asserts that “[i]t is unclear whether the deprivations 

occurred due to sanctions [Buggs] received while in the D.O.C. or while in 

community corrections.” Id. at 12. 

[7] But Buggs provided the transcripts from the August 3 and September 7 

hearings, which provide information on the issue of credit time. And it is clear 

from those transcripts that the State did not dispute the fact that community 

corrections deprived Buggs of sixty days of credit time. During the August 3, 

2017, hearing, the Community Corrections Team Officer stated that Buggs was 

deprived of thirty days while he was in the Department of Correction and sixty 

days while he was on work release. And the State responded and stated: “I’ve 

heard of community corrections being able to take away good time credit[.]” 

Tr. Vol. II at 6. Further, during the September 7 sentencing hearing, Buggs 

stated that one of the issues regarding credit time “is 60 days taken from work 

release under Marion County Community Corrections[.]” Id. at 10. The State 

replied that Buggs “was given a hearing and opportunity and he admitted to the 

violation so his credit time was deprived at work release.” Id. at 11. The record 

is clear both that Buggs preserved the issue, and the State did not dispute, that 

community corrections had deprived Buggs of sixty days of credit time. As 

such, Buggs provided an adequate record and we will reach the merits of Buggs’ 

appeal. 
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[8] On the merits, Buggs contends that the trial court erred when it miscalculated 

his earned credit time because it honored the deprivation of credit time by 

community corrections and that community corrections lacked the authority to 

deprive him of credit time. Credit time is a matter of statutory right, and trial 

courts do not have discretion in awarding or denying such credit. Hickman v. 

State, 81 N.E.3d 1083, 1085 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017). Whether Buggs is entitled to 

additional credit time presents a question of statutory interpretation, which this 

court reviews de novo. Day v. State, 57 N.E.3d 809, 811 (Ind. 2016). 

[9] In support of his contention, Buggs relies on Shepard v. State, 84 N.E.3d 1171, 

1174 (Ind. 2017), in which the Indiana Supreme Court held that, absent rules 

that expressly pertain to the delegation of good time credit deprivation powers, 

the community corrections director lacked authority to deprive the defendant of 

any earned good time credit. The State does not dispute this issue on appeal 

and concedes that “if the community corrections program did in fact deprive 

[Buggs] of 60 days of good time credit that he earned while serving his sentence 

in the community corrections program, it was without authority to do so.” 

Appellee’s Br. at 13. The State further acknowledges that Buggs “may be 

entitled to receive 60 additional days of good credit time,” which “would 

amount to 851 days of good time credit as of the time of his community 

corrections revocation hearing (881 days of actual time served minus 30 days of 

good time credit that the D.O.C. previously deprived [Buggs] of, which [Buggs] 

does not challenge.” Appellee’s Br. at 13-14. Our Supreme Court’s opinion in 

Shepard requires that Buggs’ earned credit time be recalculated. Accordingly, 
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we reverse the trial court’s determination as to Buggs’ good time credit, and we

remand to the trial court with instructions to reinstate sixty days of good time 

credit and to recalculate Buggs’ credit time. 

[10] Reversed and remanded with instructions.

Mathias, J., and Barnes, J., concur.