The general punishment for misdemeanor offenses includes:

• A. Imprisonment in county jail not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
• B. Imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
• C. Imprisonment in state prison not exceeding one year in the state prison and no fines.
• D. Imprisonment in county jail not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding $1,000, but not both.

Answer: (A)

Misdemeanors are punished with relatively light penalties: jail time in a county facility up to six months and/or a fine up to $1,000, and you can receive both components in the same sentence. The important idea is that state prison time is generally reserved for felonies, so options that require imprisonment in state prison don’t fit the general rule. You can also be fined even if you don’t serve jail time, and you can be punished with both a jail term and a fine. Therefore, the description that matches jail time up to six months and a fine up to $1,000, or both, is the correct one.