The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled prisoners can’t start getting credit for time served until they are actually behind bars. The case involved Allen Allensworth who was convicted in 2006 on drug charges, but was given a suspended sentence and two years of probation.
Just four months into the probation Allensworth got into trouble again and the probation was revoked. He was sent to prison to serve his original 15 year sentence. Allensworth has served enough time behind bars to be released in 2013, but also wanted the time he served on probation to be figured into the calculations for his release date.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruling said Allensworth has been given credit for the time he spent in jail in Polk County prior to going to the state prison. But the court said the law is clear that time spent in supervised probation should not be figured in with time spent behind bars to calculate the credits used for early release from prison.