STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER, Plaintiff, vs. IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR FRANKLIN COUNTY, Defendant,
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 9-381 / 08-1225
Filed June 17, 2009
STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER,
Plaintiff,
vs.
IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR
FRANKLIN COUNTY,
Defendant,
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Franklin County, Peter B. Newell,
Judge.
The State Public Defender seeks certiorari contending the district court
acted illegally in ordering it to allow the filing of a fee claim outside the forty-five
day time period. WRIT SUSTAINED.
Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Julie Miller, Assistant State
Public Defender, for appellant.
Michael Cross, Hampton, for appellee.
Considered by Mahan, P.J., and Eisenhauer and Mansfield, JJ.
2
EISENHAUER, J.
Attorney Michael Cross was appointed by the court to represent parties in
two juvenile cases in Franklin County. Cross did not file fee claims with the State
Public Defender within forty-five days of the date of his last service in the cases.
Rather, Cross requested the court grant an extension of the time limit for filing
claims. After a hearing, the court ruled Cross had established good cause for a
late filing and ordered the State Public Defender’s Office “to authorize a filing
outside the forty-five day time period for good cause.”
The State Public Defender filed petitions for writ of certiorari, contending
the trial court did not properly apply the law as established by Iowa Code
chapters 13B and 815 (2007), as well as Iowa Administrative Code chapter 493.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari and consolidated the cases. Our review is
for correction of errors at law. State Pub. Defender v. Iowa Dist. Ct. for Plymouth
County, 747 N.W.2d 218, 220 (Iowa 2008).
We may only examine the
jurisdiction of the district court and the legality of its actions. Christensen v. Iowa
Dist. Ct., 578 N.W.2d 675, 678 (Iowa 1998).
The State Public Defender is authorized to review a claim for payment of
indigent defense costs and may deny this claim if, among other things, it is not
timely. Iowa Code § 13B.4(4)(c)(2)(a). Therefore, the statute gives the State
Public Defender discretion to deny untimely claims.
A claim is untimely when it is not “submitted to the state public defender
within forty-five days of. . . the final ruling or dismissal of any [non-criminal] case.”
Iowa Code § 815.10A(2). It is undisputed Cross did not submit a timely claim.
3
Despite Cross’s failure, the district court waived the statutory forty-five-day
deadline and ordered the State Public Defender to authorize Cross’s late filing.
The State Public Defender argues that the district court acted illegally in ordering
it to extend or waive the deadline. We agree.
Under Iowa Code section 13B.4(8), “[t]he state public defender shall adopt
rules, as necessary, pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this chapter [public
defenders] and chapter 815 [costs-compensation and fees-indigent defense].”
The State Public Defender adopted administrative rules identifying three
exceptions to the forty-five-day requirement. See Iowa Admin. Code r. 493-7.1.
The exceptions include the extended illness, hospitalization, or death of the
claimant. Id. None of the exceptions created by this administrative rule are
applicable to Cross’s delay in filing. Nothing in any of the statutes we have
discussed or this administrative rule suggests the court can waive or extend the
filing time limit by creating good cause exceptions. See State Pub. Defender v.
Iowa Dist. Ct. for Union County, 744 N.W.2d 321, 322 (Iowa 2008).
These statutes and the administrative rule applying them lead us to
conclude the district court exceeded its authority by ordering the State Public
Defender’s Office to authorize a filing outside the forty-five day time period for
good cause. We therefore sustain the writ of certiorari.
WRIT SUSTAINED.
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