18 U.S.C. § 3584
Section 3584 · Multiple sentences of imprisonment
Amended 1 time on record
The circuits are split over this section — Whether a district court has discretion to order a federal sentence to run consecutively to a state sentence that has not yet been imposed
Applied in 1,263 court decisions — leading case United States v. LaBonte (1997)
Most recently applied in United States v. Dimaryn Ware (June 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (92 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 3553 · 18 U.S.C. § 922 · 18 U.S.C. § 3742
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Imposition of Concurrent or Consecutive Terms.—If multiple terms of imprisonment are imposed on a defendant at the same time, or if a term of imprisonment is imposed on a defendant who is already subject to an undischarged term of imprisonment, the terms may run concurrently or consecutively, except that the terms may not run consecutively for an attempt and for another offense that was the sole objective of the attempt. Multiple terms of imprisonment imposed at the same time run concurrently unless the court orders or the statute mandates that the terms are to run consecutively. Multiple terms of imprisonment imposed at different times run consecutively unless the court orders that the terms are to run concurrently.
(b) Factors To Be Considered in Imposing Concurrent or Consecutive Terms.—The court, in determining whether the terms imposed are to be ordered to run concurrently or consecutively, shall consider, as to each offense for which a term of imprisonment is being imposed, the factors set forth in section 3553(a).
(c) Treatment of Multiple Sentence as an Aggregate.—Multiple terms of imprisonment ordered to run consecutively or concurrently shall be treated for administrative purposes as a single, aggregate term of imprisonment.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section effective Nov. 1, 1987, and applicable only to offenses committed after the taking effect of this section, see section 235(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3551 of this title.