1. Except as otherwise provided by law, the court shall inquire into the ability of the child or the child’s parent to pay expenses incurred pursuant to subsections 2, 4, and 8. After giving the parent a reasonable opportunity to be heard, the court may order the parent to pay all or part of the costs of the child’s care, examination, treatment, legal expenses, or other expenses. An order entered under this section does not obligate a parent paying child support under a custody decree, except that part of the monthly support payment may be used to satisfy the obligations imposed by the order entered pursuant to this section. If a parent fails to pay as ordered, without good reason, the court may proceed against the parent for contempt and may inform the county attorney who shall proceed against the parent to collect the unpaid amount. Any payment ordered by the court shall be a judgment against each of the child’s parents and a lien as provided in section 624.23. If all or part of the amount that the parents are ordered to pay is subsequently paid by the county or state, the judgment and lien shall thereafter be against each of the parents in favor of the county to the extent of the county’s payments and in favor of the state to the extent of the state’s payments.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 232.141

  • Assessment: means the process by which the department responds to all accepted reports of alleged child abuse. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • Child: means any person under the age of eighteen years. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • Consumer: means any one of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 216E.1
  • Court: means the juvenile court established under section 602. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Custodian: means a stepparent or a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity to a child who has assumed responsibility for that child, a person who has accepted a release of custody pursuant to subchapter IV, or a person appointed by a court or juvenile court having jurisdiction over a child. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Department: means the state department of human services and includes the local, county, and service area offices of the department. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Guardian: means a person who is not the parent of a child, but who has been appointed by a court having jurisdiction over the child, to have a permanent self-sustaining relationship with the child and to make important decisions which have a permanent effect on the life and development of that child and to promote the general welfare of that child. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Juvenile: means the same as "child". See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Juvenile shelter care home: means a physically unrestricting facility used only for the shelter care of children. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Parent: means a biological or adoptive mother or father of a child; or a father whose paternity has been established by operation of law due to the individual's marriage to the mother at the time of conception, birth, or at any time during the period between conception and birth of the child, by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by administrative order when authorized by state law. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Party: means a petitioner, a respondent, or a person who intervenes in a proceeding instituted under this chapter. See Iowa Code 252A.2
  • Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Shelter care: means the temporary care of a child in a physically unrestricting facility at any time between a child's initial contact with juvenile authorities and the final judicial disposition of the child's case. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • state: means the general interest held by the people in the health, safety, welfare, and protection of all children living in this state. See Iowa Code 232.90
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. All of the following juvenile court expenses are a charge upon the county in which the proceedings are held, to the extent provided in subsection 3:

 a. Juvenile court expenses incurred by an attorney appointed by the court to serve as counsel to any party or to serve as a guardian ad litem for any child, including fees and expenses for foreign language interpreters, costs of depositions and transcripts, fees and mileage of witnesses, and the expenses of officers serving notices and subpoenas.
 b. Reasonable compensation for an attorney appointed by the court to serve as counsel to any party or as guardian ad litem for any child in juvenile court.
 c. Fees and expenses incurred by the juvenile court for foreign language interpreters for court proceedings.
 3. Costs incurred under subsection 2 shall be paid as follows:

 a. A county shall be required to pay for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1989, an amount equal to the county’s base cost for witness and mileage fees and attorney fees established pursuant to section 232.141, subsection 8, paragraph “d”, Code 1989, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, plus an amount equal to the percentage rate of change in the consumer price index as tabulated by the federal bureau of labor statistics for the current year times the county’s base cost.
 b. A county’s base cost for a fiscal year plus the percentage rate of change amount as computed in paragraph “a” is the county’s base cost for the succeeding fiscal year. The amount to be paid in the succeeding year by the county shall be computed as provided in paragraph “a”.
 c. The county, on an annual basis, shall pay to the indigent defense fund created under section 815.11 the amount of the county’s base cost as determined in accordance with this subsection.
 d. Costs incurred under subsection 2 shall be paid by the state from the appropriations to the indigent defense fund under section 815.11 in accordance with this chapter, chapter 815, and the rules adopted by the state public defender. The county shall be required to reimburse the indigent defense fund for costs incurred by the state up to the county’s base in this subsection.
 4. Upon certification of the court, all of the following expenses are a charge upon the state to the extent provided in subsection 5:

 a. The expenses of transporting a child to or from a place designated by the court for the purpose of care or treatment.
 b. Expenses for mental or physical examinations of a child if ordered by the court.
 c. The expenses of care or treatment ordered by the court.
 5. If no other provision of law requires the county to reimburse costs incurred pursuant to subsection 4, the department shall reimburse the costs as follows:

 a. The department shall prescribe by administrative rule all services eligible for reimbursement pursuant to subsection 4 and shall establish an allowable rate of reimbursement for each service.
 b. The department shall receive billings for services provided and, after determining allowable costs, shall reimburse providers at a rate which is not greater than allowed by administrative rule. Reimbursement paid to a provider by the department shall be considered reimbursement in full unless a county voluntarily agrees to pay any difference between the reimbursement amount and the actual cost. When there are specific program regulations prohibiting supplementation those regulations shall be applied to providers requesting supplemental payments from a county. Billings for services not listed in administrative rule shall not be paid. However, if the court orders a service not currently listed in administrative rule, the department shall review the order and, if reimbursement for the service of the department is not in conflict with other law or administrative rule, and meets the criteria of subsection 4, the department shall reimburse the provider.
 6. If a child is given physical or mental examinations or treatment relating to an assessment performed pursuant to section 232.71B with the consent of the child’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian and no other provision of law otherwise requires payment for the costs of the examination and treatment, the costs shall be paid by the state. Reimbursement for costs of services described in this subsection is subject to subsection 5.
 7. A county charged with the costs and expenses under subsections 2 and 3 may recover the costs and expenses from the child’s custodial parent’s county of residence, as defined in section 331.394, by filing verified claims which are payable as are other claims against the county. A detailed statement of the facts upon which a claim is based shall accompany the claim.
 8. This subsection applies only to placements in a juvenile shelter care home which is publicly owned, operated as a county or multicounty shelter care home, organized under a chapter 28E agreement, or operated by a private juvenile shelter care home. If the actual and allowable costs of a child’s shelter care placement exceed the amount the department is authorized to pay, the unpaid costs may be recovered from the child’s custodial parent’s county of residence. However, the maximum amount of the unpaid costs which may be recovered under this subsection is limited to the difference between the amount the department is authorized to pay and the statewide average of the actual and allowable rates as reasonably determined by the department annually. A home may only be reimbursed for the lesser of the home’s actual and allowable costs or the statewide average of the actual and allowable rates as determined by the department in effect on the date the costs were paid. The unpaid costs are payable pursuant to filing of verified claims against the child’s custodial parent’s county of residence. A detailed statement of the facts upon which a claim is based shall accompany the claim. Any dispute between counties arising from filings of claims pursuant to this subsection shall be settled in the manner provided to determine residency in section 331.394.
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