(a) When a person is convicted of an offense and the court commits him or her to a term of imprisonment, the commitment shall be to the custody of the Commissioner.

(b) The Commissioner shall have the authority to designate the place of confinement where the sentence shall be served.

(c) Whenever in this title or in any other law reference is made to the sentencing or confinement of inmates to any correctional facility under authority of the Department, such reference shall be construed to mean sentencing or confinement to the custody of the Commissioner rather than to any particular facility of the Department.

(d) The sentence of imprisonment of any person convicted of an offense shall commence to run from the date on which such person is received at a correctional facility. If any such person shall be committed to a jail or other place of detention to await transportation to the place in which his or her sentence is to be served, his or her sentence shall commence to run from the date on which he or she is received at such jail or other place of detention. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20.)