Opinion ID: 1752304
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Credit for time served on probation.

Text: In Mills v. State, 308 N.W.2d 65 (Iowa 1981), this court was confronted with an analogous sentencing issue: whether the denial of credit for time spent on probation violated equal protection when parolees were granted credit under section 806.16, The Code, for time served on parole. While no constitutional argument is raised in this case, the State argues that Mills implies a probationer need not receive credit for time spent on probation under section 907.3(2) since there is no confinement. Unlike revocations for parole violations, § 906.16, The Code, there is no statute expressly providing that time spent on probation is to be credited to a sentence upon revocation. Section 907.3(2) only provides: By record entry at the time of or after sentencing, the court may suspend the sentence and place the defendant on probation upon such terms and conditions as it may require including commitment to an alternate jail facility or a community correctional residential treatment facility for a specific number of days to be followed by a term of probation as specified in section 907.7. A person so committed who has probation revoked shall be given credit for such time served. (Emphasis added.) And section 907.11 provides: In no case shall the total time served in confinement and in any locally administered correctional program exceed the maximum period of confinement authorized for the public offense of which the defendant stands convicted. The general rule is that, absent a specific provision allowing for it, a court does not err by denying credit for time served on probation. See A. Campbell, The Law of Sentencing § 82, at 265 (1978). Denial of credit is appropriate under circumstances where the restrictions imposed cannot be equated with incarceration. See Lock v. State, 609 P.2d 539, 543 (Alaska 1980). See generally Annot., Credit for Jail Time Served, 99 A.L.R.3d 781 (1980). While we recognize credit for time spent on parole, there is specific statutory authority for that, § 906.16, The Code, and there is none for probation. Moreover, the concepts of parole and probation are significantly different and justify divergent approaches on the issue of credit to be given upon violation. See Mills, 308 N.W.2d at 67. The district court did not err in refusing to give the defendant credit for time spent on probation.