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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 8-871 / 07-1944 Filed December 17, 2008

STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER, Plaintiff-Appellant, vs. IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR MUSCATINE COUNTY, Defendant-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Certiorari to the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Gary P. Strausser, District Associate Judge.

The State Public Defender claims the district court exceeded its authority by requiring his office to pay a claim for attorney fees incurred by counsel appointed pursuant to Iowa Code section 915.37. WRIT SUSTAINED.

Mark C. Smith, First Assistant State Public Defender, for appellant. Mark Neary of Neary Law Office, Muscatine, for appellee.

Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield, J. and Robinson, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2007).

2 POTTERFIELD, J. I. Background Facts and Proceedings On June 18, 2007, Mark Neary was appointed pursuant to Iowa Code section 915.37 (2007) to represent child witnesses to an assault allegedly committed by their father. Neary submitted a billing statement to the State Public Defender requesting payment of his guardian ad litem services. The State Public Defender denied Neary's claim, notifying him that the indigent defense fund was not responsible for payment of his claim. On August 14, 2007, Neary filed a motion for review of the denial of his fee claim. A hearing was held, and the district court ordered the State Public Defender to pay Neary's claim for attorney fees. The court later filed a nunc pro tunc order ordering the State Public Defender to reimburse Neary for expenses in addition to attorney fees. The State Public Defender filed a petition for certiorari, which was granted on March 27, 2008. The petition states that Iowa Code

section 815.11 specifically excludes payment from the indigent defense fund of costs incurred under Iowa Code chapter 915. The State Public Defender

therefore asserts that the district court lacked the authority to mandate payment of Neary's claim II. Standard of Review We review the district court's ruling for correction of errors at law. State Pub. Defender v. Iowa Dist. Ct. for Clarke County, 745 N.W.2d 738, 739 (Iowa 2008). Relief through certiorari is appropriate if the district court has exceeded its jurisdiction or acted illegally. Id. A district court acts illegally when its findings lack substantial evidentiary support or when it does not properly apply the law.

3 Id. The district court's factual findings are binding if well supported, but its legal conclusions are not. Id. III. Fee Claim Iowa Code section 815.11 establishes instances in which fees earned by a court-appointed attorney may be paid by the indigent defense fund. A 2003

amendment to section 815.11 added language stating "costs incurred in any administrative proceeding or in any other proceeding under chapter . . . 915 or other provisions of the Code or administrative rules are not payable from the fund." Iowa Code

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