State v. Iowa District Court for Johnson County

WIGGINS, Justice.

The issue we must decide is whether the juvenile court can require the department of human services to pay the cost of detaining a juvenile in a detention center while waiting for placement in a group care residential treatment facility. Because the juvenile court did not have the statutory or inherent authority to do so, we sustain the writ of certiorari, and annul the parts of the juvenile court orders requiring the department to pay for the cost of detention.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

The State filed a delinquency petition on November 28, 2006, alleging a juvenile…