Hundt v. Iowa Department of Human Services

HARRIS, Justice.

A statute, Iowa Code section 252C.2(2) (1993), prevents a support debt from accruing against a “responsible person” for the period during which that person .receives public assistance for the benefit of a dependent child. This dispute concerns whether this protection can be urged by a father against the State. The State, by defendant Iowa department of human services (DHS), acquired its interests by an assignment from a mother of her right to child support from the father. The question is whether the department’s rights under the assignment control over the father’s statutory…