232.90 Duties of county attorney.

1. As used in this section, “state” means the general interest held by the people in the health, safety, welfare, and protection of all children living in this state.

2. The county attorney shall represent the state in proceedings arising from a petition filed under this division and shall present evidence in support of the petition. The county attorney shall be present at proceedings initiated by petition under this division filed by an intake officer or the county attorney, or if a party to the proceedings contests the proceedings, or if the court determines there is a conflict of interest between the child and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian or if there are contested issues before the court.

3. If there is disagreement between the department and the county attorney regarding the appropriate action to be taken, the department may request that the state be represented by the attorney general in place of the county attorney. If the state is represented by the attorney general, the county attorney may continue to appear in the proceeding and may present the position of the county attorney regarding the appropriate action to be taken in the case.

4. The county attorney and the attorney general shall comply with the requirements of chapter 232B and the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, Pub. L. No. 95-608, when either chapter 232B or the federal Indian Child Welfare Act is determined to be applicable in any proceeding under this division.

[C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §232.29; C79, 81, §232.90]

87 Acts, ch 151, §1; 89 Acts, ch 230, §16; 2013 Acts, ch 113, §2; 2014 Acts, ch 1092, §51

Referred to in §232.180