In typical criminal law, time served is an informal term that describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served on bail but only during incarceration and can range from days to, in rare cases, years. A sentence of time served means that the defendant has been sentenced to confinement, albeit retroactively fulfilled by the pretrial detention; therefore, the defendant goes free.