Opinion ID: 2023562
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Portions of the Sentence Were Illegally Imposed.

Text: Defendant contends that the court's sentence was illegal in requiring him to attend an alcohol treatment center and in suspending his driver's license. We disagree with the first contention and agree with the second. Under the sentencing order, the defendant did not have to accept the conditions of probation if he agreed to serve a thirty-day jail sentence. To avoid the jail sentence, he had to agree to the terms of probation. Although the court did not identify a statute in imposing the conditions of probation, the relevant statute is Iowa Code section 907.3(3), which 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.... The judge did not act beyond his authority in requiring defendant to attend a residential treatment facility. If the sentencing order is taken literally, defendant is correct in urging that the judge was without authority to suspend his driver's license. Absent a statutory provision for court-ordered revocation, that authority lies with the Iowa Department of Transportation. See Iowa Code § 321J.4(1). The court could, however, impose as a condition of probation a prohibition against defendant driving for a specified number of days irrespective of his status as a licensed operator. That may have been the intent of the sentencing order. This matter may be clarified at the time of resentencing.