IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
No. 15–1459
Filed November 18, 2016
SHANNON BREEDEN and LAURA HOCHMUTH,
Appellants,
vs.
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
Appellee.
On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Arthur E.
Gamble, Judge.
The Iowa Department of Corrections seeks further review of the
decision of the court of appeals accelerating the accrual rate for earned-
time credit after a mandatory minimum term is removed at resentencing.
DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS AFFIRMED; DISTRICT COURT
ORDER REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED.
Gordon E. Allen, Johnston, for appellants.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and William A. Hill, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
2
WATERMAN, Justice.
This appeal and two others decided today 1 present the question of
how to calculate earned-time (good behavior) credit after an incarcerated
juvenile felon serving a prison sentence with a mandatory minimum term
is resentenced without the mandatory minimum. According to the
counsel for the State, the answer to this question affects the release
dates of up to 150 inmates. Sentences subject to a mandatory minimum
under Iowa Code section 902.12 (2015) accrue earned-time credit at a
slower rate under section 903A.2(1). The offenders and the Iowa
Department of Corrections (IDOC) disagree on how to interpret the
operative statutory language after State v. Lyle, which held that
mandatory minimum sentences automatically imposed on defendants for
crimes committed as juveniles constituted cruel and unusual
punishment under the Iowa Constitution. 854 N.W.2d 378, 400 (Iowa
2014). Numerous offenders were resentenced after Lyle to new prison
terms without mandatory minimums. 2 We must decide whether these
resentencings trigger the faster accrual rate for earned-time credits.
The district court ruled that earned-time continued to accrue at
the slower rate for Shannon Breeden and Laura Hochmuth based on
their convictions for forcible felonies listed in Iowa Code section 902.12.
The legislature provided that such crimes were subject to automatic
mandatory minimum terms, and under Iowa Code section 903A.2(1)(b),
inmates serving sentences for such crimes accrue earned-time credit at
1See James v. State, No. 15–1827, 2016 WL ___ (Iowa Nov. 18, 2016)
(per curiam); State v. Coleman, No. 16–0540, 2016 WL ___ (Iowa Nov. 18, 2016)
(per curiam).
2Lyle permits the resentencing court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence
after an individualized hearing. 854 N.W.2d at 403–04. If a mandatory minimum
sentence is imposed at resentencing, then earned-time credit accrues at the slower rate.
3
the slower rate. The court of appeals reversed based on the plain
language of section 903A.2(1), which provides earned-time credit accrues
at the faster rate for sentences lacking a mandatory minimum term. For
the reasons explained below, we hold that upon resentencing without the
mandatory minimum, the IDOC must apply the faster rate for earned-
time credit. Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals,
reverse the district court’s ruling, and remand this case for entry of an
order directing the IDOC to recalculate the offenders’ release dates,
applying the faster rate.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
The parties stipulated to the following facts. Breeden and
Hochmuth were incarcerated under the custody of the IDOC. 3 Breeden
was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to an indeterminate
term of twenty-five years. 4 She was age sixteen at the time of her
offense. She began serving her prison sentence on March 3, 2003.
Hochmuth was convicted of second-degree kidnapping, first-degree
robbery, and second-degree robbery and sentenced to an indeterminate
term of fifty years. She was age sixteen when she committed her
offenses. Hochmuth began serving her prison sentence on
September 23, 1997.
3Breeden and Hochmuth are now on work release. However, the question
presented in this appeal is not moot because they are still under the supervision of the
IDOC. We also reach the merits because “the underlying question is one of public
importance that is likely to reoccur.” Dykstra v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 783 N.W.2d 473, 477
n.2 (Iowa 2010).
4The facts of that offense are set forth in State v. Breeden, No. 14–1789, 2015
WL 8389964, at *1 (Iowa Ct. App. 2015).
4
Both Breeden and Hochmuth were convicted of felonies listed in
Iowa Code section 902.12. 5 Both offenders were subject to the
mandatory minimum requirement to serve at least seven-tenths of their
sentences before becoming eligible for parole or work release. The IDOC
calculated earned time for Breeden and Hochmuth under section 903A.2,
which states in part,
For purposes of calculating the amount of time by which an
inmate’s sentence may be reduced, inmates shall be grouped
into the following two sentencing categories:
a. 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. . . . . An inmate of an institution under the
5Iowa Code section 902.12(1) (2015) reads,
A person serving a sentence for conviction of the following
felonies, including a person serving a sentence for conviction of the
following felonies prior to July 1, 2003, shall be denied parole or work
release unless the person has served at least seven-tenths of the
maximum term of the persons sentence:
1. Murder in the second degree in violation of section 707.3.
2. Attempted murder in violation of section 707.11.
3. Sexual abuse in the second degree in violation of section
709.3.
4. Kidnapping in the second degree in violation of section 710.3.
5. Robbery in the first or second degree in violation of section
711.2 or 711.3.
6. Vehicular homicide in violation of section 707.6A, subsection
1 or 2, if the person was also convicted under section 321.261,
subsection 4, based on the same facts or event that resulted in the
conviction under section 707.6A, subsection 1 or 2.
This Code section was amended in 2003, 2003 Iowa Acts ch. 156, § 11 (codified at Iowa
Code § 902.12 (Supp. 2003)), to require that offenders serve seven-tenths of their
sentence. The previous version of the statute mandated, “Except as otherwise provided
in section 903A.2 a person serving a sentence for conviction of the following forcible
felonies shall serve one hundred percent of the maximum term of the person’s sentence”
and could not be released on parole or work release. Iowa Code § 902.12 (2001). The
2003 amendment struck the reference, “Except as otherwise provided in section
903A.2,” yet left section 903A.2 intact, without reforming the category “A” or “B”
designations.
5
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 day 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. . . .
....
b. 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. 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.
Because Breeden and Hochmuth had committed offenses listed in
section 902.12, the IDOC classified their sentences as category “B” and
calculated their earned time at a rate of fifteen eighty-fifths per day for
each day of good conduct. This classification resulted in a tentative
discharge date of November 23, 2023, for Breeden and July 26, 2040, for
Hochmuth.
On July 18, 2014, we decided Lyle, which required resentencing of
all offenders serving prison sentences with automatically imposed
mandatory minimum terms for crimes committed as juveniles. 854
N.W.2d at 400. The district court vacated the original sentences and
resentenced Breeden and Hochmuth. Each was resentenced to the same
indeterminate term of years, but without a mandatory minimum and
with immediate eligibility for parole. Their sentencing orders did not
address how to calculate or recalculate their earned-time credits. The
IDOC continued to classify Breeden’s and Hochmuth’s sentences as
category “B,” such that their tentative discharge dates remained the
same.
On November 12, 2014, Breeden and Hochmuth filed a
consolidated petition for declaratory relief with the IDOC, arguing it
6
erroneously and illegally calculated their earned time in violation of Lyle,
the Iowa Constitution, and Iowa Code sections 903A.2 and 902.12.
Specifically, the petitioners claimed because they were no longer subject
to the mandatory minimum under 902.12, the accrual of earned time for
each of their sentences should have been calculated under category “A”
at the faster rate of 1.2 days for each day of good conduct, rather than
category “B” at the slower rate of fifteen eighty-fifths. On December 3,
John Baldwin, then director of the IDOC, denied their petition,
concluding that “the method of sentence calculation used by the IDOC is
mandated by law and that the IDOC has followed such requirements.”
He stated,
While both offenders have had the minimum sentence
provision eliminated, both offenders were still sentenced to
an offense identified under Section 902.12. As an offender
convicted of a Section 902.12 sentence, their earned time
accumulation is calculated as a category “B” sentence—
which accumulates earned time credit at a rate of 15/85
days of credit for every day served.
Baldwin further noted that under Iowa Code section 903A.5(1), the IDOC
could only apply earned-time credit that was “authorized,” and “there
[was] no statutory authorization for the IDOC to apply a different rate”
than fifteen eighty-fifths per day for a category “B” sentence.
On December 30, Breeden and Hochmuth filed a petition for
judicial review under Iowa Code section 17A.19 in the Iowa District Court
for Polk County, challenging the IDOC’s interpretation and
administration of the earned-time provisions in section 903A.2. The
district court held a hearing on the petition on March 10, 2015.
On May 11, the district court affirmed the IDOC’s declaratory order
and dismissed the petition for judicial review. First, the district court
rejected the constitutional challenge, noting that Lyle “specifically
7
declined to address the calculation of earned time under section
903A.2(1).” See Lyle, 854 N.W.2d at 404 n.10 (“The holding in this case
does not address the mandatory sentence of incarceration imposed
under statutory sentencing schema or any other issues relating to the
sentencing schema.” (Emphasis added.)). Second, responding to the
petitioners’ statutory argument, the district court noted that in 2003, the
legislature amended Iowa Code section 902.12 to impose a seventy
percent, rather than a 100 percent, mandatory minimum, but in so
doing, left intact section 903A.2, including the category “B” fifteen eighty-
fifths limitation. Thus, the district court concluded,
From the language used and retained by the
legislature in Section 903A.2(1), the Court can reasonably
interpret the statute to conclude that the legislature
intended that individuals serving sentences for forcible
felony crimes under section 902.12 remain subject to a
maximum accumulation of earned time of 15 percent even
though the mandatory minimum sentence for parole
eligibility was reduced to 70 percent[.] Therefore, the
individuals convicted of a crime[] listed in section 902.12 are
serving category “B” sentences and are eligible for a
reduction of sentence equal to 15/85 of a day for each day of
good time regardless of whether the court imposes a 70
percent mandatory minimum before eligibility for parole.
The district court emphasized the “purpose of section 903A.2(1) is to
incarcerate individuals convicted of the most violent forcible felonies
listed in Section 902.12 longer than individuals convicted of other crimes
including forcible felonies not listed in Section 902.12.” The district
court ruled that because the petitioners were sentenced for forcible
felony crimes listed in section 902.12, the sentences should still be
considered as category “B.”
Finally, the district court addressed the petitioners’ argument that
the category “B” classification violated article I, section 17 of the Iowa
Constitution. It found the slower earned-time rate did not offend the
8
Iowa Constitution because juveniles convicted without a mandatory
minimum could be paroled at any time regardless of their tentative
discharge dates. Release on parole occurs after an individualized
consideration of factors consistent with those required in Lyle. 6 Thus,
the district court stated this fulfilled the “individualized consideration”
requirement under the Iowa Constitution for youthful offenders.
On June 11, petitioners filed a motion for rehearing. The district
court overruled this motion on August 3, reiterating, “The determining
factor in calculating the rate of accumulation of earned time is whether
the court sentenced the offender for a crime listed in Section 902.12.”
Breeden and Hochmuth appealed, and we transferred the appeal to the
court of appeals.
On June 29, 2016, the court of appeals reversed the decision of the
district court. The court of appeals focused on the text of the statute,
which provided that “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.” Iowa Code
§ 903A.2(1)(b) (emphasis added). Relying on the statute’s text and
Lowery v. State, 822 N.W.2d 739, 741–42 (Iowa 2012), the court of
appeals concluded that it was the sentence imposed, not the type of
crime the offender committed, that controlled the earned-time credit
calculation. Because Breeden and Hochmuth were no longer subject to a
6See Iowa Code 906.4(1) (2015) (“The board shall release on parole or work
release any person whom it has the power to so release, when in its opinion there is
reasonable probability that the person can be released without detriment to the
community or to the person.”); id. § 906.5(3) (“[T]he board shall consider all pertinent
information regarding the person, including the circumstances of the person’s offense,
any presentence report which is available, the previous social history and criminal
record of the person, the person’s conduct, work, and attitude in prison, and the
reports of physical and mental examinations that have been made.”).
9
mandatory minimum, the court of appeals determined the sentences
should have been classified as category “A” with an accumulation rate of
1.2 days credit per each day served. The court of appeals did not reach
any constitutional claim. We granted the IDOC’s application for further
review.
II. Standard of Review.
“We review a district court’s interpretation of statutes for correction
of errors at law . . . .” State v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 616 N.W.2d 575, 578 (Iowa
2000); see also Lowery, 822 N.W.2d at 741 (“[W]e also review statutory
interpretation for errors at law.”).
III. Analysis.
This appeal turns on the interplay between two sections of the
Iowa Code, one of which was partially stricken on state constitutional
grounds. Section 903A.2(1) governs earned-time credit and, expressly
referring to section 902.12, provides two different accrual rates based on
whether the sentence includes a mandatory minimum term. Section
902.12 automatically imposes mandatory minimum terms for certain
felonies, but that automatic feature was held unconstitutional as to
juveniles in Lyle. The legislature’s intent is clear from the plain language
it chose in these statutes—offenders serving prison time for the forcible
felonies listed in section 902.12 are subject to a mandatory minimum
term and accrue earned-time credit at the slower rate. We must
determine the accrual rate after the mandatory minimum sentence is
stricken as unconstitutional. We apply the severability doctrine to
resolve the question.
A. The Severability Doctrine. “When parts of a statute or
ordinance are constitutionally valid, but other discrete and identifiable
parts are infirm, we may sever the offending portion from the enactment
10
and leave the remainder intact.” Am. Dog Owners Ass’n, Inc. v. City of
Des Moines, 469 N.W.2d 416, 418 (Iowa 1991) (per curiam). We must do
our best “to save as much of the statute as possible, eliminating only
that which is necessary to make it constitutionally sound.” Clark v.
Miller, 503 N.W.2d 422, 425 (Iowa 1993) (quoting Harryman v. Hayles,
257 N.W.2d 631, 635 (Iowa 1977), overruled on other grounds by Miller v.
Boone Cty. Hosp., 394 N.W.2d 776, 781 (Iowa 1986)).
Severance of unconstitutional provisions from
constitutional portions of a statute is appropriate if it does
not substantially impair legislative purpose, the enactment
remains capable of fulfilling the apparent legislative intent,
and the remaining portion of the enactment can be given
effect without the invalid provision.
Id.
Severability protects an act from total nullification if discrete
portions are unconstitutional. Jacob Scott, Codified Canons and the
Common Law of Interpretation, 98 Geo. L.J. 341, 384 (2010) [hereinafter
Scott]. We “leave the valid parts in force on the assumption that the
legislature would have intended those provisions to stand alone.” Id.
This promotes the separation of powers and stable legislative policies by
permitting as much of a statute to survive as possible. Id. at 386. To
that end, the Iowa legislature has codified a general severability
provision, instructing,
If any provision of an Act or statute or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of
the Act or statute which can be given effect without the
invalid provision or application, and to this end the
provisions of the Act or statute are severable.
11
Iowa Code § 4.12.7
We have adhered to this rule of constitutional restraint for over
100 years. See, e.g., State v. Louisell, 865 N.W.2d 590, 600 (Iowa 2015)
(striking mandatory minimum for juvenile offenders while preserving
remainder of sentencing statute in section 902.1); Bonilla v. State, 791
N.W.2d 697, 701–02 (Iowa 2010); Clark, 503 N.W.2d at 425; Am. Dog
Owners, 469 N.W.2d at 418; State v. Blyth, 226 N.W.2d 250, 261–62
(Iowa 1975); Frost v. State, 172 N.W.2d 575, 586 (Iowa 1969); Smith v.
Thompson, 219 Iowa 888, 896–97, 258 N.W. 190, 195 (1934), overruled
in part on other grounds by Carlton v. Grimes, 237 Iowa 912, 939, 23
N.W.2d 883, 897 (Iowa 1946); State v. Santee, 111 Iowa 1, 8–9, 82 N.W.
445, 447–48 (1900). 8
We thoroughly reviewed the severability doctrine in State v.
Monroe, 236 N.W.2d 24, 35–36 (Iowa 1975) (en banc). We held the
sentencing statute for delivery of a controlled substance unconstitutional
7Scott notes, “Legislatures are wildly enthusiastic about severability: it is
codified in thirty-five jurisdictions; none have rejected it.” Scott, 98 Geo. L.J. at 385.
For a more thorough treatment of the favorability of the rule of severability in other
jurisdictions, see his article. Id. at 385–87.
8Federal courts apply equivalent severability principles. “Generally speaking,
when confronting a constitutional flaw in a statute, we try to limit the solution to the
problem, severing any problematic portions while leaving the remainder intact.” PHH
Corp. v. Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, ___ F.3d ___, ___, 2016 WL 5898801, at *27 (D.C.
Cir. Oct. 11, 2016) (quoting Free Enter. Fund v. Pub. Co. Accounting Oversight Bd., 561
U.S. 477, 508, 130 S. Ct. 3138, 3161, 177 L. Ed. 2d 706, 733 (2010)). “The ‘normal
rule’ is ‘that partial, rather than facial, invalidation is the required course.’ ” Id.
(quoting Free Enter. Fund, 561 U.S. at 508, 130 S. Ct. at 3161, 177 L. Ed. 2d at 733).
That is true so long as we conclude that (i) Congress would have
preferred the law with the offending provision severed over no law at all;
and (ii) the law with the offending provision severed would remain “fully
operative as a law.”
Id. (quoting Free Enter. Fund, 561 U.S. at 509, 130 S. Ct. at 3161, 177 L. Ed. 2d at
733).
12
under the Due Process Clause because it improperly shifted the burden
to defendant to prove he delivered only as an accommodation for
another. Id. at 32–33, 34. We noted the “difficult and delicate” task
remained of determining whether the portion could be severed or the
statute must “fall in its entirety.” Id. at 35. We declared, “[T]he cardinal
principle of statutory construction is to save and not to destroy.” Id.
(quoting Blyth, 226 N.W.2d at 261). We elaborated,
“Whether the valid and the invalid parts of a statute
are independent and separable, or interdependent, is a
question of construction and of legislative intent, as
indicated by the words employed and the considerations
underlying the enactment of the statute, and the question is
not one of legislative power. A statute may be
unconstitutional in part and yet be sustained with the
offending part omitted, if the paramount intent or chief
purpose will not be destroyed thereby, or the legislative
purpose not substantially affected or impaired, if the statute
is still capable of fulfilling the apparent legislative intent, or
if the remaining portions are sufficient to accomplish the
legislative purpose deducible from the entire act, construed
in the light of contemporary events.
If when the invalid part is stricken, that which remains
is complete in itself and capable of being executed in
accordance with the apparent legislative intent, or purpose,
wholly independent of that which was rejected, it must be
sustained to that extent . . . .”
The converse of the above proposition acts as a limit
on our power to partially invalidate a statute and leave the
constitutionally inoffensive portions in force. If it appears
the legislature probably would not have enacted the statute
at all if the invalid part had been eliminated, then the whole
must fall.
Id. at 35–36 (quoting Blyth, 226 N.W.2d at 262). Applying those
principles, we deduced a legislative intent to “treat accommodation
deliverers less harshly than nonaccomodators.” Id. at 36. Because
excising only the offensive burden-shifting phrase of the statute would
leave “a viable statute expressive of legislative intent,” we eliminated only
that portion and upheld the remainder. Id.
13
We applied the severability doctrine to a sentencing statute in
Bonilla, when we severed an unconstitutional mandatory life term to
allow parole, but upheld the remaining provisions of the enactment. 791
N.W.2d at 701–02. We now turn to whether that approach will work
here.
B. Application of the Severability Doctrine. We first address
the intent of the legislature in enacting Iowa Code sections 902.12 and
903A.2. The State notes the legislature intended to punish more harshly
the offenses listed in Iowa Code section 902.12 in two ways: (1) by
imposing a mandatory minimum, and (2) by providing for a slower
accrual rate for earned-time credit. The district court accurately
acknowledged that “[t]he purpose of section 903A.2(1) is to incarcerate
individuals convicted of the most violent forcible felonies listed in Section
902.12 longer than individuals convicted of other crimes including the
forcible felonies not listed in Section 902.12.” 9 To effectuate this
purpose, the district court applied the severability doctrine to excise the
unconstitutional mandatory minimum, while still giving effect to the
remainder of the statutes, including the slower accrual rate for earned
time for felonies listed in section 902.12.
We struck down section 902.12’s mandatory minimum provision
for juvenile offenders in Lyle and now must determine whether the slower
9The legislature clearly intended to punish more harshly offenders convicted of
certain forcible felonies listed in section 902.12. See State v. Ceasar, 585 N.W.2d 192,
196,198 (Iowa 1998), overruled on other grounds by State v. Bruegger, 773 N.W.2d 862,
871 (Iowa 2009) (concluding that the offenses listed in section 902.12 were treated
differently because they had “a broader social impact and, therefore, [were] deserving of
a greater punishment”); see also State v. Cronkhite, 613 N.W.2d 664, 669 (Iowa 2000)
(evaluating section 902.12 and stating that “[i]t is entirely reasonable for the legislature
to conclude the crime of murder in the second degree has a broad social impact
warranting strict punitive measures”).
14
accrual rate in section 903A.2 survives. We conclude that it does not,
because the legislature expressly tied the slower accrual rate to
sentences with mandatory minimums, rather than to the crimes listed in
section 902.12. The court of appeals aptly observed,
Section 903A(1)(b) does not say category “B” sentences are
those sentences being served for crimes listed in section
902.12. Rather, section 903A.2(1)(b) categorizes a sentence
as a “B” sentence when the sentence is ‘subject to a
maximum accumulation of earned time of fifteen percent of
confinement under section 902.12.’ The focus of the
language in section 903A.2(1)(b) is not on the offense
committed but the sentence being served.
We agree. We must give effect to the legislature’s choice of the word
“sentence,” rather than “crime” or “conviction” in section 903A.2(1)(b).
Accordingly, an offender is only subject to the slower rate of accrual
when he or she has received a “sentence” with a mandatory minimum.
We reached that conclusion in Lowery, when we interpreted
section 903A.2(1) to determine the earned-time accrual rate after the
governor commuted a sentence by removing the mandatory minimum.
822 N.W.2d at 741–42. John Lowery was convicted of first-degree armed
robbery at age eighteen and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Id.
at 740. Lowery’s conviction of a crime listed in section 902.12 required
him to serve a minimum of seventy percent of his sentence before being
eligible for parole. Id. In 2011, the Governor commuted Lowery’s
sentence, removing the mandatory minimum and stating that the IDOC
must “take all necessary steps to effectuate herewith, including the
scheduling of a parole review, without delay.” Id. When the IDOC
continued to calculate his earned time at the slower rate after the
commutation, Lowery filed an application for postconviction relief, noting
that if his earned time had been calculated at the accelerated rate, he
would be entitled to immediate release. Id. at 741. The district court
15
denied the application, finding that the commutation had “changed only
the parole eligibility date and did not change the sentence itself
(including the rate of accumulation of earned time) or the discharge
date.” Id. We reversed, interpreting the language of section 903A and
stating,
Lowery was originally sentenced to a twenty-five-year
term with a seventy percent mandatory minimum. . . .
Because his sentence had a mandatory minimum, he
accumulated earned time at a slower rate than if his
sentence had been for a term of years with no mandatory
minimum, and he could accumulate no more than fifteen
percent of his total sentence. . . . In contrast, if Lowery had
been sentenced to a term of twenty-five years with no
mandatory minimum, he would have been entitled to accrue
earned time at a faster rate.
Id. at 741–42 (citation omitted). We noted that “it is generally well-settled
that when an inmate’s sentence is commuted, the new sentence replaces
the former sentence.” Id. at 741. But because the Governor made clear
in the language of the commutation that Lowery should not be eligible for
release immediately, we determined Lowery was entitled to have earned
time accrue at the accelerated rate only after the date of the
commutation order. Id. at 743. “This result,” we concluded,
gives effect to the governor’s intention expressed in his
commutation order . . . , but also gives effect—from the date
of the commutation order forward—to the plain language of
the statute which provides that inmates serving sentences
with no mandatory minimums shall accumulate earned time
at an accelerated rate.
Id.
The State argues Lowery is distinguishable as involving
interpretation of a commutation order. We agree that our interpretation
of the commutation order explains why we allowed the slower rate of
earned-time accrual before the date of the commutation. But our
holding—that the faster accrual rate applies upon the removal of the
16
mandatory minimum—was based on our interpretation of section
903A.2(1). We reaffirm that interpretation today: removal of the
mandatory minimum triggers the faster 1.2-day accrual for earned-time
credit. Moreover, the State concedes that the resentencing replaces the
original sentence. We hold that upon resentencing without the
mandatory minimum, the IDOC must recalculate earned-time credits
using the faster category “A” 1.2-day accrual rate for the inmate’s entire
period of incarceration.
We recognize that one effect of our interpretation undermines the
legislative intent to punish crimes listed in section 902.12 more harshly.
Inmates whose mandatory minimum sentences have been removed after
Lyle will now accumulate good time faster, and thereby obtain earlier
release. Indeed, an inmate receiving a twenty-five-year sentence that
accumulates all possible earned time may discharge the sentence in as
little as 11.36 years under the accelerated rate. Thus, Breeden, whose
tentative discharge date previously was November 23, 2023, will now be
entitled to immediate release. Hochmuth’s tentative discharge date will
also be greatly accelerated. Nevertheless, we cannot save the slower
accumulation rate because it is contingent upon the mandatory
minimum. In Iowa District Court, we recognized that sections 902.12 and
903A.2 operated together. 616 N.W.2d at 579 (“The practical effect of
these two statutes is to require that a defendant convicted of a forcible
felony listed in section 902.12 must serve at least 85% of his
sentence.”). 10 The “factual predicate for application of the statutes—
conviction of the forcible felony”—triggers the mandatory minimum of
10Iowa District Court was decided under a former version of Iowa Code section
902.12 requiring an inmate to serve one hundred percent of his or her sentence before
being eligible for parole. See 616 N.W.2d at 579.
17
section 902.12, which in turn triggers the slower earned time
accumulation rate. See id. Removal of the mandatory minimum
eliminates the prerequisite for the slower earned-time accrual rate.
Our interpretation is supported by the legislative history, which
confirms the slower accrual rate works hand in glove with the mandatory
minimum. The “legislative purpose of earned-time credits . . . is to
encourage prisoners to follow prison rules and participate in
rehabilitative programs.” Kolzow v. State, 813 N.W.2d 731, 738 (Iowa
2012). Under section 903A.2, an inmate serving a category “B” sentence
can only earn a maximum of fifteen percent of earned time to reduce his
sentence. The legislative history of section 903A.2 reveals the slower
accumulation rate was enacted out of concern that if all inmates received
the same rate, inmates subject to the fifteen-percent cap would earn all
their eligible good time very quickly and lose the incentive to behave for
the remainder of their sentences. The study bill proposing the slower
accumulation rate states,
Recent amendments to the code requiring offenders to serve
85% of their sentence has created conflicts within the
existing statutes relating to good time. . . . [I]nmates serving
an 85% sentence accumulate “good time” at the same rate as
before, even though it does not shorten their sentence. This
means that good time is no longer an incentive for good
behavior because an inmate can earn all good time needed in
a very short time.
H. Study B. 73, 77th G.A., Reg. Sess., rationale for change (Iowa 1997);
cf. Star Equip., Ltd. v. State, 843 N.W.2d 446, 454 (Iowa 2014) (“[W]e give
weight to explanations attached to bills as indications of legislative
intent.” (quoting Root v. Toney, 841 N.W.2d 83, 88 (Iowa 2013))). As
enacted, inmates subject to the mandatory minimum received a slower
accrual rate—fifteen eighty-fifths per day—to ensure that earned time
remained an incentive for good behavior throughout the inmate’s
18
sentence. 11 1997 Iowa Acts ch. 131, § 2 (codified at Iowa Code § 903A.2
(Supp. 1997)).
When a district court removes the mandatory minimum under
section 902.12, offenders are immediately subject to parole and work
release. Thus, there is no need to decelerate the accumulation rate to
allow good time to remain an incentive. The mandatory minimum and
slower accumulation rate are inextricably linked. We therefore conclude
that we cannot save the slower accrual rate without a mandatory
minimum. When deciding whether to sever, we must ask ourselves
whether the legislature would have enacted the statute at all if the
invalid part had been eliminated. See Monroe, 236 N.W.2d at 36. The
legislature likely would not have enacted the slower rate without a
mandatory minimum.
IV. Disposition.
For these reasons, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals,
reverse the ruling of the district court, and remand the case for entry of
an order directing the IDOC to apply the faster earned-time rate in
section 903A.2(1)(a) to the sentences of Breeden and Hochmuth.
DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS AFFIRMED; DISTRICT
COURT ORDER REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED.
11The math behind the fifteen eighty-fifths rate supports this interpretation.
According to the Legislative Services Agency, an inmate serving a twenty-five-year
sentence who is subject to the fifteen percent cap on good time credit can only
accumulate a maximum of 3.75 years (or 1368.75 days) earned time. Joe McEniry,
Legal Background Briefing on Seventy Percent Sentences, Legislative Services Agency
(December 2010), www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/BF/13760. Under the 1.2
rate, the inmate would accumulate all possible earned time in a little over three years
(3.125 years). Afterward, the inmate would have no behavioral motivation for the
remainder of his sentence. In contrast, under the fifteen eighty-fifths rate, the inmate
does not accumulate the maximum amount of good time until approximately 21.25
years. Id. Thus, the inmate remains motivated throughout the sentence to earn good-
time credit.