FOR PUBLICATION

APPELLANT PRO SE:    ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

RONALD D. SANDER    STEVE CARTER
Plainfield, Indiana     Attorney General of Indiana

GRANT H. CARLTON
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana

RONALD D. SANDER,       )
                             )
Appellant-Defendant          )
                             )
vs.                          )    No. 86A03-0405-PC-219
                             )
STATE OF INDIANA,            )
                             )
Appellee-Plaintiff.          )

                         

I.C. § 35-50-6-3.3. Neither this provision nor any related statutory provision identifies the initial decision-maker with respect to a request for education credit time. This is not to say, however, that the statute does not provide guidance by inference.
The statute establishes three criteria for eligibility for educational credit time. First, the applicant must be in credit class I. That designation is made initially by the trial court at sentencing and concerns time served while awaiting trial. See Robinson v. State, 805 N.E.2d 783. Such designation is subject to modification by the DOC. Id. Second, the applicant must demonstrate “a pattern consistent with rehabilitation.” I.C. § 35-50-6-3.3(a)(2). For purposes of I.C. § 35-50-6-3.3, that phrase refers to the applicant’s disciplinary record during the time he or she participated in the educational program for which educational credit is sought. See Diaz v. State, 753 N.E.2d 724 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001), trans. denied. Finally, the applicant must establish that the qualifying educational achievement was accomplished.
Reviewing these criteria, we observe that both the trial court and the DOC are similarly situated to determine whether the applicant is in credit class I, and also whether the applicant completed the educational work for which credit time is sought. The same cannot necessarily be said, however, of the applicant’s disciplinary record during the time he or she participated in the educational program. When, as here, the applicant has begun serving his sentence, the DOC alone is able to assess whether the applicant has met the behavioral criterion set out in I.C. § 35-50-6-3.3. See McGee v. State, 790 N.E.2d 1067, 1071(Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (initial determination as to whether behavioral and credit class criteria are met are “properly a function of the DOC initially, subject to review”), trans. denied. Similarly, when the relevant period consists of the time spent in confinement while awaiting trial, the jailing authority is in the best position to assess whether the applicant’s behavior comported with the statutory requirement. In both cases, it is true that not only is the confining authority in a superior position to make the indicated assessment, but also that the trial court is wholly incapable of rendering such an assessment without the confining authority’s input. Thus, application for educational credit time must be made to and the initial ruling thereon made by the DOC when the educational achievement was accomplished after sentencing, and by the jailing authority in cases where the educational achievement was accomplished while confined prior to sentencing.
In the instant case, while he was serving the sentence imposed for his conviction for operating a vehicle while his license was suspended for life, Sander allegedly received a high school diploma or its equivalent. Thus, his application for credit time pursuant to I.C. § 35-50-6-3.3 should have been directed to the DOC. The trial court, not possessing all of the facts necessary to rule on Sander’s petition, did not err in denying the motion for educational credit time. See McGee v. State, 790 N.E.2d 1067.
Judgment affirmed.
BAKER, J., and DARDEN, J., concur.