Opinion ID: 1991332
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Is the Mandatory Withholding of an Inmate's Allowance Permissible Under Iowa Code Section 904.702 (1993)?

Text: Iowa Code section 904.702 regulates the deductions that may be made from an inmate's allowance paid under section 904.701: If allowances are paid pursuant to section 904.701, the director may deduct an amount established by the inmate's restitution plan of payment or an amount sufficient to pay all or part of the court costs taxed as a result of the inmate's commitment.... The director may deduct an amount ... to be deposited into the inmate savings fund established in section 904.508.... The director may deduct and disburse an amount sufficient for industries' programs ... including an amount to pay all or part of the cost of the inmate's incarceration. The director may pay all or any part of remaining allowances paid pursuant to section 904.701 directly to a dependent of the inmate, or may deposit the allowance to the account of the inmate, or may deposit a portion and allow the inmate a portion for the inmate's personal use. (Emphasis added.) This statute explicitly enumerates how any allowances received by an inmate may be disbursed by the director. Support payments are not one of the listed options. Moreover, the use of the word may indicates that the director has discretion to make any of the deductions permitted by section 904.702. See Little v. Winborn, 518 N.W.2d 384, 387 (Iowa 1994) (legislature's use of the word may in Iowa Code section 358A.8 indicated that act was permissible but not required). Compare Iowa Code § 4.1(30)(c) (1993) (The word `may' confers a power.) with id. § 4.1(30)(a) (The word `shall' imposes a duty.) and id. § 4.1(30)(b) (The word `must' states a requirement.). Nevertheless, the State argues that the ability of the director to pay the allowance directly to a dependent of the inmate gives the director authority to honor the mandatory income withholding order. See Iowa Code § 904.702 (1993). We reject this argument. Payments  directly to a dependent  are not the same as the payment of child support obligations to the clerk of court as required by the order. If the legislature had intended that institutional allowances be used to meet the inmate's child support obligations it could have stated this intention, as it did elsewhere in chapter 904. Iowa Code section 904.905 sets forth the deductions that may be made from the earnings of an inmate employed in the community under a work release program. The third priority out of four specified deductions that may be made is [a]n amount the inmate may be legally obligated to pay for the support of the inmate's dependents.... Id. § 904.905(3). (This statute was amended in 1994 to make the payment of support obligations the first priority. 1994 Iowa Acts ch. 1142, § 12.) We also observe that the legislature extensively amended section 904.702 in 1995. See 1995 Iowa Acts ch. 167, § 6. Amended section 904.702 requires the deduction that the State seeks here: The director shall also deduct from any remaining account balance an amount sufficient to pay all or part of any judgment against the inmate, including but not limited to judgments for taxes and child support .... Id. (emphasis added). When a material change is made in the language of a statute, we presume the legislature intended to alter the law. State ex. rel Palmer v. Board of Supervisors, 365 N.W.2d 35, 37 (Iowa 1985). We think the amendment to section 904.702 changed the law and requires the director to do what he was not permitted to do previouslydeduct monies from an inmate's institutional allowance to pay the inmate's child support obligations.