A person convicted of a class “C” felony or greater offense under chapter 709 or section
728.12, or a class “B” felony under section 713.3, subsection 1, paragraph “d”, shall also
be sentenced, in addition to any other punishment provided by law, to a special sentence
committing the person into the custody of the director of the Iowa department of corrections
for the rest of the person’s life, with eligibility for parole as provided in chapter 906. The board
of parole shall determine whether the person should be released on parole or placed in a work
release program. The special sentence imposed under this section shall commence upon
completion of the sentence imposed under any applicable criminal sentencing provisions for
the underlying criminal offense and the person shall begin the sentence under supervision
as if on parole or work release. The person shall be placed on the corrections continuum
in chapter 901B, and the terms and conditions of the special sentence, including violations,
shall be subject to the same set of procedures set out in chapters 901B, 904, 906, and 908, and
rules adopted under those chapters for persons on parole or work release. The revocation
of release shall not be for a period greater than two years upon any first revocation, and five
years upon any second or subsequent revocation. A special sentence shall be considered a
category “A” sentence for purposes of calculating earned time under section 903A.2.
2005 Acts, ch 158, §39; 2009 Acts, ch 119, §59; 2021 Acts, ch 14, §1; 2023 Acts, ch 74, §6;
2024 Acts, ch 1182, §55
Referred to in §692A.106, 692A.125, 901.5, 906.15
\n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
136
cases (
37 in the last 5 years), 1999–2026 · leading case:
State v. Lathrop, 781 N.W.2d 288 (Iowa 2010).
State v. Lathrop, 781 N.W.2d 288 (Iowa 2010).
· cites it 36× “” Iowa Code § 903B.1. “[T]he person shall begin the sentence under supervision as if on parole,” and is subject to the same procedures and rules adopted “for persons on parole.”
State v. Harkins, 786 N.W.2d 498 (Iowa Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 51× “Iowa Code § 903B.1. Harkins appeals and asserts the special sentence is unconstitutional.”
State v. Sallis, 786 N.W.2d 508 (Iowa Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 51× “Iowa Code § 903B.1. Sallis appeals and asserts that his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the imposition of the section 903B.”
State v. Bearse, 748 N.W.2d 211 (Iowa 2008).
· cites it 12× “Additionally, Bearse was not sentenced to the special life sentence provided for in Iowa Code section 903B.1, and no mention of the special life sentence appears in the record.”
In re the Det. of Nicholas Wygle, 910 N.W.2d 599 (Iowa 2018).
· cites it 24× “See Iowa Code §§ 903B.1, .2. At the same time, it also avoids potential constitutional concerns.”
State of Iowa v. Bradley Steven Graham, 897 N.W.2d 476 (Iowa 2017).
· cites it 11× “The relevant statutory provision with respect to Graham’s challenge to his special sentence is Iowa Code section 903B.1. Under this Code provision, a person convicted of certain sex offenses, including the offense to which Graham pled guilty, is subject to a special sentence…”
State v. Tripp, 776 N.W.2d 855 (Iowa 2010).
· cites it 15× “He appeals specifically from that portion *857 of his sentence imposed pursuant to Iowa Code section 903B.1, committing him to the Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections for a term of life, with supervision as if on parole.”
Kris Kolzow v. State of Iowa, 813 N.W.2d 731 (Iowa 2012).
· cites it 16× “Section 903B.1 applies to offenders convicted of a “class ‘C’ felony or greater” and the commitment term lasts “for the rest of the *735 person’s life.”
Michael Jefferson v. Iowa Dist. Court for Scott Cnty., 926 N.W.2d 519 (Iowa 2019).
· cites it 14× “" Iowa Code § 903B.1 (2007). This special sentence commences "upon completion of the sentence imposed under any applicable criminal sentencing provisions for the underlying criminal offense and the person shall begin the sentence under supervision as if on parole.”
State v. Smith, 753 N.W.2d 562 (Iowa 2008).
· cites it 6× “The judge failed to inform Smith that under Iowa Code section 903B.1 (Supp.2005) he would be subject to mandatory lifetime supervision by the department of corrections as a result of his guilty plea to the habitual offender sexual assault charge.”
State v. Kingery, 774 N.W.2d 309 (Iowa Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 14× “Douglas Kingery appeals from the imposition of special sentences pursuant to Iowa Code sections 903B.1 and .2 (2007). He contends his counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that imposition of those special sentences violated his constitutional rights of equal protection…”
State of Iowa v. Kenneth Edward Petty, 925 N.W.2d 190 (Iowa 2019).
· cites it 2× “1, and the mandatory lifetime special sentence under section 903B.1. However, in the relevant part of his motion in arrest of judgment, Petty merely made a general assertion that he did not adequately understand the penal consequences of the pleas.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.