State Public Defender v. Iowa District Court for Muscatine County

CARTER, Justice.

In this original certiorari proceeding the State Public Defender (public defender) asks this court to hold that the district court may not approve a fee claim by an attorney appointed in a contempt proceeding based on an hourly rate that is greater than that allowed for court-appointed counsel in criminal matters or in juvenile court. After reviewing the record and considering the arguments presented, we do so hold and sustain the writ of certiora-ri.

The fee claim application that is at issue was presented by attorney John Wunder who had been appointed by the court to…