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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
No. 21 / 05-0845 Filed August 17, 2007 ROBERT SWANSON, Appellant, vs. CIVIL COMMITMENT UNIT FOR SEX OFFENDERS (CCUSO) and IOWA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Appellees.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Eliza J. Ovrom, Judge.

A patient in the civil commitment unit for sex offenders appeals a decision dismissing his petition for judicial review. AFFIRMED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Matthew S. Sheeley, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Mark Hunacek, Deputy Attorney General, for appellees.

2 WIGGINS, Justice. In this appeal, Robert Swanson, a patient in the Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders (CCUSO), seeks a ruling that the district court erred in denying his petition for judicial review. He claims he meets the definition of an "aggrieved person" under Iowa Code chapter 17A (2003) and that to deny him a contested case hearing violates his due process rights. Because we agree with the district court that Swanson is not an aggrieved person under chapter 17A and to deny him a contested case hearing does not violate his due process rights, we affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing his petition for judicial review. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. The Iowa department of human services (DHS) operates CCUSO. DHS presently houses Swanson in CCUSO's facility. CCUSO "was created by the 1998 Sexually Violent Predators Act of Iowa to provide secure, inpatient treatment for sexual offenders who are believed to be a high risk for sexually reoffending." Iowa Dep't of Human Servs., Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders,

http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/dhs_organization/other/civil_commitment.html (2000) (last visited Aug. 14, 2007) [hereinafter DHS, CCUSO]. Patients who are housed at the CCUSO facility are civilly committed under Iowa's Sexually Violent Predator Act, chapter 229A of the Iowa Code. The Iowa legislature amended chapter 229A in 2002 directing DHS to "adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A necessary to administer this chapter." Iowa Code

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