Inmates may earn sentence reduction time under this section, but the amount depends on sentence category and some inmates are barred until required treatment is completed.
1. Each inmate committed to the custody of the director of the department of corrections is eligible to earn a reduction of sentence in the manner provided in this section. For purposes of calculating the amount of time by which an inmate’s sentence may be reduced, inmates shall be grouped into the following three sentencing categories: a. (1) Category “A” sentences are those sentences which are not subject to a maximum accumulation of earned time of fifteen percent of the total sentence of confinement under section 902.12 or 902.13 and are not category “C” sentences. To the extent provided in subsection 5, category “A” sentences also include life sentences imposed under section 902.1. An inmate of an institution under the control of the department of corrections who is serving a category “A” sentence is eligible for a reduction of sentence equal to one and two-tenths days for each day the inmate demonstrates good conduct and satisfactorily participates in any program or placement status identified by the director to earn the reduction. The programs include but are not limited to the following: (a) Employment in the institution. (b) Iowa state industries. (c) An employment program established by the director. (d) A treatment program established by the director. (e) An inmate educational program approved by the director. (2) However, an inmate required to participate in a sex offender treatment program shall not be eligible for any reduction of sentence until the inmate participates in and completes a sex offender treatment program established by the director. (3) An inmate serving a category “A” sentence is eligible for an additional reduction of sentence of up to three hundred sixty-five days of the full term of the sentence of the inmate for exemplary acts. In accordance with section 903A.4, the director shall by policy identify what constitutes an exemplary act that may warrant an additional reduction of sentence. b. (1) Category “B” sentences are those sentences which are subject to a maximum accumulation of earned time of fifteen percent of the total sentence of confinement under section 902.12 or 902.13 and are not category “C” sentences. An inmate of an institution under the control of the department of corrections who is serving a category “B” sentence is eligible for a reduction of sentence equal to fifteen eighty-fifths of a day for each day of good conduct by the inmate. (2) An inmate required to participate in a domestic abuse treatment program shall not be eligible for any reduction of sentence until the inmate participates in and completes a domestic abuse treatment program established by the director. c. Category “C” sentences are those sentences for attempted murder described in section 707.11, subsection 5. Notwithstanding paragraphs “a” or “b”, an inmate serving a category “C” sentence is ineligible for a reduction of sentence under this section. 2. Earned time accrued pursuant to this section may be forfeited in the manner prescribed in section 903A.3. 3. Time served in a jail, municipal holding facility, or another facility prior to actual placement in an institution under the control of the department of corrections and credited against the sentence by the court shall accrue for the purpose of reduction of sentence under this section. Time which elapses during an escape shall not accrue for purposes of reduction of sentence under this section. 4. Time which elapses between the date on which a person is incarcerated, based upon a determination of the board of parole that a violation of parole has occurred, and the date on which the violation of parole was committed shall not accrue for purposes of reduction of sentence under this section. 5. Earned time accrued by inmates serving life sentences imposed under section 902.1 shall not reduce the life sentence, or any mandatory minimum sentence imposed under section 902.1, except that earned time accrued shall be credited against the inmate’s life sentence if the life sentence is commuted to a term of years under section 902.2, but shall not reduce any mandatory minimum sentence imposed under section 902.1. 83 Acts, ch 147, §3, 14, 15; 90 Acts, ch 1251, §67; 96 Acts, ch 1151, §4; 97 Acts, ch 131, §2, 4; 98 Acts, ch 1100, §88; 2000 Acts, ch 1173, §4, 10 ; 2003 Acts, 1st Ex, ch 2, §52, 209 ; 2005 Acts, ch 158, §32; 2011 Acts, ch 22, §2; 2015 Acts, ch 65, §3 – 5; 2016 Acts, ch 1011, §119; 2017 Acts, ch 83, §6, 7; 2017 Acts, ch 122, §18 – 21; 2018 Acts, ch 1172, §64, 65 Referred to in §707.11, 822.2, 903A.3, 903A.4, 903A.7, 903B.1, 903B.2