State Public Defender v. Iowa District Court for Union County

LARSON, Justice.

The Union County District Court appointed attorney Andrew Knuth to represent an indigent defendant in a criminal case. Knuth finished his representation of the defendant and filed his fee claim; however, he filed it after the forty-five-day deadline provided by statute. The State Public Defender, who is charged with the responsibility of reviewing such claims, denied the claim as untimely. The district court, nevertheless, ordered the public defender to pay the claim, and the public defender brought this certiorari action. We sustain the writ.

I. Standard of Review.

In a…