Iowa statute
Iowa Code § 903A.5 — Time to be served — credit
Current through 2026 Iowa Code (enactments effective on or before 2026-01-01, through the 2025 Regular Session, 91st G.A.)
Part of Chapter 903A: Reduction of Sentences, Iowa Code.
Full text of Iowa Code § 903A.5
Statutory text current through the 2026 Iowa Code (enactments effective on or before 2026-01-01, through the 2025 Regular Session, 91st G.A.). This publication reproduces the statutory text of the official 2026 Iowa Code (Legislative Services Agency); it is not the official publication of the State of Iowa.
1. An inmate shall not be discharged from the custody of the director of the Iowa department of corrections until the inmate has served the full term for which the inmate was sentenced, less earned time and other credits earned and not forfeited, unless the inmate is pardoned or otherwise legally released. Earned time accrued and not forfeited shall apply to reduce a mandatory minimum sentence being served pursuant to section 124.406, 124.413, or 902.8A. An inmate shall be deemed to be serving the sentence from the day on which the inmate is received into the institution. If an inmate was confined to a county jail, municipal holding facility, or other correctional or mental facility at any time prior to sentencing, or after sentencing but prior to the case having been decided on appeal, because of failure to furnish bail or because of being charged with a nonbailable offense, the inmate shall be given credit for the days already served upon the term of the sentence. However, if a person commits any offense while confined in a county jail, municipal holding facility, or other correctional or mental health facility, the person shall not be granted credit for that offense. Unless the inmate was confined in a correctional facility, the sheriff of the county in which the inmate was confined or the officer in charge of the municipal holding facility in which the inmate was confined shall certify to the clerk of the district court from which the inmate was sentenced and to the department of corrections’ records administrator at the Iowa medical and classification center the number of days so served. The department of corrections’ records administrator, or the administrator’s designee, shall apply credit as ordered by the court of proper jurisdiction or as authorized by this section and section 907.3, subsection 3.
2. An inmate shall not receive credit upon the inmate’s sentence for time spent in custody in another state resisting return to Iowa following an escape. However, an inmate may receive credit upon the inmate’s sentence while incarcerated in an institution or jail of another jurisdiction during any period of time the person is receiving credit upon a sentence of that other jurisdiction.
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