State v. Dist. Court

The State filed a petition alleging that fifteen-year-old J.W.R. committed delinquent acts of incest. J.W.R. entered an Alford plea to the incest allegation. A juvenile court officer recommended J.W.R. be adjudicated a delinquent and placed in a residential treatment facility for sex offenders. The juvenile court issued a consent decree withholding adjudication that J.W.R. had committed a delinquent act. Over the State's objection, the court placed J.W.R. in the legal custody of juvenile court services, with the Department of Human Services as payment agent, for purposes of placement in a residential facility. The court of appeals sustained the State's writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the legislature did not grant this authority to juvenile courts in Iowa Code 232.46. View "State v. Dist. Court" on Justia Law