Duties & Responsibilities
Of
The Plymouth County
Attorney :
1.
Diligently enforce or cause to be enforced in the county, state
laws and county ordinances, violations of which may be commenced
or prosecuted in the name of the state, county, or as county
attorney, except as otherwise provided.
2. Appear
for the state and the county in all cases and proceedings in the
courts of the county to which the state or the county is a
party, except actions or proceedings resulting from a change of
venue from another county, and appear in the appellate courts in
all cases in which the county is a party, and appear in all
actions or proceedings which are transferred on a change of
venue to another county or which require the impaneling of a
jury from another county and in which the county or the state is
a party.
3.
Prosecute all preliminary hearings for charges triable upon
indictment.
4. Prosecute misdemeanors under chapter 236. The county attorney
shall prosecute other misdemeanors when not otherwise engaged in
the performance of other official duties.
5. Enforce
all forfeited bonds and recognizance's and prosecute all
proceedings necessary for the recovery of debts, revenues,
moneys, fines, penalties, restitution of court-appointed
attorney fees or expense of a public defender, and forfeitures
accruing to the state, the county or a road district in the
county, and all suits in the county against public service
corporations which are brought in the name of the state. To
assist in this duty, the county attorney may procure
professional collection services provided by persons or
organizations, including private attorneys, which are generally
considered to have knowledge and special abilities which are not
generally available to state or local government or may
designate another county official or agency to assist with
collection efforts.
If
professional collection services are procured, the county
attorney shall file with the clerk of the district court an
indication of the satisfaction of each obligation to the full
extent of all moneys collected in satisfaction of that
obligation, including all fees and compensation retained by the
collection service incident to the collection and not paid into
the office of the clerk.
Before a
county attorney designates another county official or agency to
assist with collection of debts, revenues, moneys, fines,
penalties, restitution of court-appointed attorney fees or
expense of a public defender, and forfeitures, the board of
supervisors of the county must approve the designation.
All fines,
penalties, court costs, fees, and restitution for
court-appointed attorney fees or expenses of a public defender
which are delinquent as defined in section 602.8107 may be
collected by the county attorney or the person procured or
designated by the county attorney. In order to receive a
percentage of the amounts collected pursuant to section
602.8107,
the county attorney must file annually with the clerk of the
district court on or before July 1 a notice of full commitment
to collect delinquent obligations and must file on the first day
of each month a list of the cases in which the county attorney
or the person procured or designated by the county attorney is
pursuing the collection of delinquent obligations. The annual
notice shall contain a list of procedures which will be
initiated by the county attorney. Amounts collected by the
county attorney or the person procured or designated by the
county attorney shall be distributed in accordance with section
602.8107.
6.
Commence, prosecute, and defend all actions and proceedings in
which a county officer, in the officer's official capacity, or
the county is interested or a party.
7. Give advice
or a written opinion, without compensation, to the board and
other county officers and to school and township officers, when
requested by an officer, upon any matters in which the state,
county, school, or township is interested, or relating to the
duty of the officer in any matters in which the state, county,
school, or township may have an interest, but the county
attorney shall not appear before the board at a hearing in which
the state or county is not interested.
8. Attend
the grand jury when necessary for the purpose of examining
witnesses before it or giving it legal advice. The county
attorney shall procure subpoenas or other process for witnesses
and prepare all information's and bills of indictment.
9. Give a
receipt to all persons from whom the county attorney receives
money in an official capacity and file a duplicate receipt with
the county auditor.
10. Make
reports relating to the duties and the administration of the
county attorney's office to the governor when requested by the
governor.
11.
Cooperate with the auditor of state to secure correction of a
financial irregularity as provided in section 11.15.
12. Submit
reports as to the condition and operation of the county
attorney's office when required by the attorney general as
provided in section 13.2, subsection 7.
13.
Reserved.
14. Hear
and decide objections to a nomination filed with the county
election commissioner as provided in section 44.7.
15. Review
the report and recommendations of the ethics and campaign
disclosure board and proceed to institute the recommended
actions or advise the board that prosecution is not merited, as
provided in sections 68B.32C and 68B.32D.
16.
Prosecute or assist in the prosecution of actions to remove
public officers from office as provided in section 66.11.
17.
Institute legal proceedings against persons who violate laws
administered by the division of labor services of the department
of workforce development as provided in section 91.11.
18.
Investigate complaints and prosecute violations of child labor
laws as provided in section 92.22.
19.
Prosecute violations of employment security laws and rules as
provided in section 96.17, subsection 2.
20. Assist,
at the request of the director of revenue and finance, in the
enforcement of cigar and tobacco tax laws as provided in
sections 453A.32 and 453A.49.
21.
Prosecute nuisances as provided in section 99.24.
22. Attend
the hearing, interrogate witnesses, and advise a license-issuing
authority relating to the revocation of a license for violation
of gambling laws as provided in section 99A.7. The county
attorney shall also represent the license-issuing authority in
appeal proceedings taken under section 99A.6.
23.
Represent the state fire marshal in legal proceedings as
provided in section 100.20.
24. Prosecute, at the request of the director of the department
of natural resources or an officer appointed by the director,
violations of the state fish and game laws as provided in
section 481A.35.
25. Assist
the division of beer and liquor law enforcement in the
enforcement of beer and liquor laws as provided in section
123.14. The county attorney shall also prosecute nuisances,
forfeitures of abatement bonds, and foreclosures of the bonds as
provided in sections 123.62 and 123.86.
26. Reserved.
27. Serve
as attorney for the county health care facility administrator in
matters relating to the administrator's service as a conservator
or guardian for a resident of the health care facility as
provided in section 135C.24.
28.
Reserved.
29. At the
request of the director of public health, commence legal action
to enjoin the unlawful use of radiation-emitting equipment as
provided in section 136C.5.
30.
Reserved.
31.
Prosecute violations of the
Iowa
veterinary practice Act as provided in section 169.19.
32. Assist
the department of inspections and appeals in the enforcement of
the Iowa
food code and the Iowa
hotel sanitation code as provided in sections 137F.19 and
137C.30.
33.
Institute legal procedures on behalf of the state to prevent
violations of the corporate or partnership farming laws as
provided in section 9H.3.
34. Prosecute violations of the
Iowa
dairy industry laws as provided in section 179.11.
35.
Prosecute persons who fail to file an annual or special report
with the secretary of agriculture under the meat and poultry
inspection Act as provided in section 189A.17.
36.
Cooperate with the secretary of agriculture in the enforcement
of label requirements for food packages as provided in section
191.7.
37. Prosecute violations of the
Iowa
commercial feed law as provided in section 198.13, subsection 3.
38. Cooperate with the secretary of agriculture in the
enforcement of the agricultural seed laws as provided in section
199.14.
39.
Prosecute violations of the
Iowa
fertilizer law as provided in section 200.18, subsection 4.
40.
Prosecute violations of the
Iowa
drug, device, and cosmetic Act as requested by the board of
pharmacy examiners as provided in section 126.7.
41. Provide
the Iowa department of
corrections with information relating to the background and
criminal acts committed by each person sentenced to a state
correctional institution from the county as provided in section
904.202.
42. Carry
out duties relating to the commitment of a person with mental
retardation as provided in section 222.18.
43. Proceed
to collect, as requested by the county, the reasonable costs for
the care, treatment, training, instruction, and support of a
person with mental retardation from parents or other persons who
are legally liable for the support of the person with mental
retardation as provided in section 222.82.
44. At the direction of a district court judge, investigate
the financial condition of a person under commitment proceedings
to the state psychiatric hospital or those legally responsible
for the person as provided in section 225.13.
45. Appear on behalf of the administrator of the division of
mental health and developmental disabilities of the department
of human services in support of an application to transfer a
person with mental illness who becomes incorrigible and
dangerous from a state hospital for persons with mental illness
to the Iowa medical and classification center as provided in
section 226.30.
46. Carry out duties relating to the hospitalization of persons
for mental illness as provided in section 229.12.
47. Carry out duties relating to the collection of the costs for
the care, treatment, and support of persons with mental illness
as provided in sections 230.25 and 230.27.
48. Carry out duties relating to the care, guidance, and control
of juveniles as provided in chapter 232.
49. Prosecute violations of law relating to the family
investment program, medical assistance, and supplemental
assistance as provided in sections 239B.15, 249.13, and 249A.14.
50. Commence legal proceedings to enforce the rights of children
placed under foster care arrangements as provided in section
233A.11.
51. Commence legal proceedings, at the request of the
superintendent of the Iowa juvenile home, to recover possession
of a child as provided in section 233B.12.
52. Furnish, upon request of the governor, a copy of the
minutes of evidence and other pertinent facts relating to an
application for a pardon, reprieve, commutation, or remission of
a fine or forfeiture as provided in section 914.5.
53. Carry out duties relating to the provision of medical and
surgical treatment for an indigent person as provided in
sections 255.7 and 255.8.
54. Commence legal proceedings to recover school funds as
provided in section 257B.33.
55. At the request of the state geologist, commence legal
proceedings to obtain a copy of the map of a mine or mine
extension as provided in section 460A.13.
56. Enforce, upon complaint, the performance of duties by
officers charged with the responsibilities of controlling or
eradicating noxious weeds as provided in section 317.23.
57. Commence legal proceedings to remove billboards and signs
which constitute a public nuisance as provided in section
319.11.
58. Reserved.
59. Assist, upon request, the department of transportation's
general counsel in the prosecution of violations of common
carrier laws and regulations as provided in section 327C.30.
60. Enforce the control of vegetation on railroad property by
the railroad corporations as provided in section 327F.29.
61. Appoint a member of the civil service commission for deputy
sheriffs as provided in section 341A.2 or 341A.3.
62. Represent the civil service commission for deputy
sheriffs in civil suits initiated by the commission for the
proper enforcement of the civil service law as provided in
section 341A.16.
63. Present to the grand jury at its next session a copy of
the report filed by the division of corrections of the
department of human services of its inspection of the jails in
the county as provided in section 356.43.
64. Represent the township trustees in counties having a
population of less than twenty-five thousand except when the
interests of the trustees and the county are adverse as provided
in section 359.18.
64A. Reserved.
64B. Make a written report to the department of inspections and
appeals within fifteen days of the end of each calendar quarter
of the amount of funds which were owed to the state for indigent
defense services and which were recouped pursuant to subsection
5.
65. Represent the assessor and the board of review in legal
proceedings relating to assessments as provided in section
441.41.
66. Represent the state in litigation relating to the
inheritance tax if requested by the department of revenue and
finance as provided in section 450.1.
67. Institute proceedings to enjoin persons from violating water
treatment laws as provided in section 455B.224.
68. Conduct legal proceedings relating to the condemnation of
private property as provided in section 6B.2.
69. Reserved.
70. Institute legal proceedings against violations of insurance
laws as provided in sections 511.7 and 515.93.
71. Assist, as requested by the attorney general, with the
enforcement of the Iowa competition law as provided in section
553.7.
72. Initiate proceedings to enforce provisions relating to the
recordation of conveyances and leases of agricultural land as
provided in section 558.44.
73. Reserved.
74. Bid on real estate on behalf of the county when necessary to
secure the county from loss as provided by section 569.2.
75. Reserved.
76. Reserved.
77. Prosecute a complaint to establish paternity and compel
support for a child as provided in section 600B.19.
78. Give to an accused person a copy of each report of the
findings of the criminalistics laboratory in the investigation
of an indictable criminal charge against the accused as provided
in section 691.4.
79. Notify state and local governmental agencies issuing
licenses or permits, of a person's conviction of obscenity laws
relating to minors as provided in section 728.8.
80. In the case of appeal from the district court, furnish the
attorney general with a copy of the notice of appeal and
pertinent material from the district court proceedings as
provided in section 814.8.
81. Certify fees and mileage payable to witnesses subpoenaed by
the county attorney before the district court as provided in
section 815.3.
82. Carry out duties relating to extradition of fugitive
defendants as provided in chapter 818.
83. Advise the director of the judicial district department of
correctional services of the facts and circumstances surrounding
the crime committed and the record and history of the defendant
granted probation as provided in section 907.8.
83A. Carry out the duties imposed under sections 915.12 and
915.13.
84. Bring an action in the nature of quo warrant as provided
in rule of civil procedure 300.
85. Perform other duties required by law and duties assigned
pursuant to section 331.323.