Edward Crowell v. State Public Defender v. Iowa District Court for Linn County

APPEL, Justice.

A juvenile court ordered the State Public Defender to pay for court-appointed counsel for an indigent parent in a contested termination-of-parental-rights proceeding brought pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 600A (2013). The juvenile court concluded that although the indigent parent was not statutorily entitled to counsel at public expense, payment of the attorney’s fees at public expense was constitutionally required. The district court reasoned that principles of equal protection prohibited treating an indigent parent in an involuntary termination proceeding filed under Iowa Code…