>>1966409Depends very much on the legal jurisdiction.
But the way it usually works is that a sentence is handed down that is straight jail time. You can spend all that time in prison, and then walk out completely free.
Or, the judge lays out conditions that can result in less prison time than that. Could be probation. Could be community service. Could be some kind of restorative justice thing (common in indigenous communities here).
But the premise is that these alternative sentences are "opportunities" for someone to serve less time in prison. So, while the conditions can be completely fucking batshit ridiculous (sometimes the term of "probation" is significantly longer than the actual prison time, for example), you can just say "no thanks, I'll take the prison time," instead.
