IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 15-1903
Filed March 22, 2017
KENNETH LEE DOSS,
Applicant-Appellant,
vs.
STATE OF IOWA,
Respondent-Appellee.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jones County, Sean W.
McPartland, Judge.
Kenneth Doss appeals the district court’s dismissal of his action for
postconviction relief. AFFIRMED.
Thomas M. McIntee, Waterloo, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Nicholas E. Siefert, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee State.
Considered by Mullins, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.
2
BOWER, Judge.
Kenneth Doss filed a pro se application for postconviction relief (PCR) on
December 31, 2013, in Warren County alleging the Iowa Department of
Corrections (IDOC) improperly forfeited his earned time. Before the case came
to trial, Doss was transferred several times, requiring him to refile the PCR
action. Doss requested the return of earned time and immediate release, but he
discharged his sentence August 12, 2015, before his PCR trial took place. The
district court, finding the matter to be moot, dismissed the application. Doss
appeals the district court’s finding.
In general, postconviction claims are reviewed for the correction of errors
at law. More v. State, 880 N.W.2d 487, 498 (Iowa 2016). However,
constitutional claims are reviewed de novo. Perez v. State, 816 N.W.2d 354, 356
(Iowa 2012).
Doss claims an exception to the mootness doctrine exists in this case
because it presents a question of great public importance. See Homan v.
Branstad, 864 N.W.2d 321, 330 (Iowa 2015). Our supreme court has previously
considered similar due process issues and reached the merits of those cases.
See Reilly v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 783 N.W.2d 490, 493 (Iowa 2010); see also Dykstra
v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 783 N.W.2d 473, 476 (Iowa 2010). We find these cases have
resolved the question presented by Doss, and therefore, we affirm the district
court pursuant to Iowa Court Rule 21.26(1)(a), (c), (d), and (e).
AFFIRMED.