Your offender is sentenced to serve 18 months in prison followed by 2 years of probation for two separate counts. What type of sentencing does this represent?

The scenario describes a situation where an offender serves a period of incarceration followed by a period of probation. This structure is indicative of a split sentence. A split sentence involves the court imposing both a term of incarceration and a term of probation, allowing the offender to serve part of their sentence in prison and part on probation.

In this case, the offender serves 18 months in prison, followed by an additional 2 years of probation. This combination of prison time followed by probation is characteristic of a split sentence, as it incorporates two distinct phases of punishment that are served sequentially rather than simultaneously.

Other sentencing types, such as concurrent or consecutive sentences, differ fundamentally in how they structure time served. Concurrent sentences allow multiple sentences to be served at the same time, while consecutive sentences require that one sentence be served completely before another begins. Administrative probation, on the other hand, typically pertains to a decision by a probation officer or administrative body regarding the oversight of an offender rather than being a sentencing structure per se. Thus, the correct identification of this sentencing type as a split sentence is based on its sequential format combining both incarceration and probation.