Richter v. Shelby County

• Decision Date: 29 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. 06-1165.,06-1165.
• Citation: 745 N.W.2d 505
• Parties: David E. RICHTER and Lori Falk—Goss, Appellees, v. SHELBY COUNTY, Iowa, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

745 N.W.2d 505

David E. RICHTER and Lori Falk—Goss, Appellees, v. SHELBY COUNTY, Iowa, Appellant.

No. 06-1165.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

February 29, 2008.

Marcus Gross, Jr., County Attorney, and Richard C. Schenck and Bryan D. Swain of Salvo, Deren, Schenck & Lauterbach, P.C., for appellant.

DeShawne L. Bird-Sell of DeShawne L. Bird-Sell, P.L.C., Glenwood, for appellees.

APPEL, Justice.

In this case, we must decide whether a county is statutorily obligated to provide a legal defense for a sheriffs deputy charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with a shooting that occurred while the deputy was on duty. The district court held that the county was required to reimburse the deputy for attorneys' fees arising out of his successful criminal defense. For the reasons expressed below, we reverse.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

The facts in this matter are undisputed. On December 20, 2004, Shelby County Deputy Sheriff Chad Butler shot and killed Dwayne Jens after a high-speed chase through rural Iowa. Jens was unarmed at the time of the shooting. The parties stipulated in this proceeding that Butler "was on duty at the time that he shot and killed" Mr. Jens and was acting in his official capacity as an officer for Shelby County during the incident."

On the day of the shooting, Butler contacted the plaintiff attorneys in this matter, David Richter and Lori Falk—Goss, to represent him in connection with the shooting. The following day, Shelby County Attorney Marcus Gross, Jr., Chief Deputy Mark Hervey, and Don Shreffler of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation interviewed Butler in Richter's office. At all times during the interview, county attorney Gross was acting as a prosecutor and not providing Butler legal defense.

County attorney Gross presented the matter to a Shelby County grand jury, which indicted Butler on the charge of voluntary manslaughter on February 2, 2005. Following the indictment, Gross withdrew as counsel for the State. On April 18, 2005, Butler's attorneys submitted a billing statement to Shelby County seeking payment of $14,775 in legal fees and costs. On April 26, 2005, the chairman of the Shelby County Board of Supervisors responded by letter, stating that the board did not have the authority to pay for Butler's legal expenses. Notwithstanding the rejection of their request for payment, Butler's attorneys continued to represent him.

After a three-day trial in June 2005, Butler was found not guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Following Butler's acquittal, Butler's attorneys presented a bill to the Shelby County Board of Supervisors totaling $63,013.50 in fees and costs arising from the defense. In response, the board once again asserted that it lacked the authority to pay for Butler's criminal defense.

Butler's attorneys filed a petition at law in the district court asserting that the county was statutorily required to assume Butler's defense and prayed for a monetary judgment for the services rendered and costs incurred. The parties tried the action to the court on stipulated facts. Butler's attorneys claimed that they were entitled to payment of their fees and expenses pursuant to Iowa Code section 331.756(6) (2005), which provides, in part, that the county attorney "shall ... defend all actions and proceedings in which a county officer, in the officer's official capacity, or the county is interested or a party."

The district court entered judgment in favor of Butler's attorneys. The county filed a timely notice of appeal.

II. Standard of Review.

The parties do not agree on the proper standard of review. The county asserts that because the remedy sought by Butler's attorneys is unjust enrichment, the case was therefore brought in equity and our review is de novo. Iowa R.App. P. 6.4. Conversely, Butler's attorneys claim that the case was tried at law because the sole basis of relief was statutory in nature. As a result, Butler's attorneys assert that our review is limited to correction of errors at law. Id.

The parties, however, stipulated to all the relevant facts. The only issues presented in this case are questions of law. The sole issue before us is whether Butler's attorneys, under the stipulated facts, are legally entitled to payment. Our review, therefore, is for correction of errors of law. Sager v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 680 N.W.2d 8, 11 (Iowa 2004).

III. Discussion.

Resolution of this case turns on the proper interpretation of Iowa Code section 331.756(6), which is the sole basis asserted by the plaintiffs for payment of Butler's criminal defense. In relevant part, this Code provision provides that "[t]he county attorney shall: ... (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." Iowa Code § 331.756(6).

The county raises three arguments against imposition of a statutory obligation to provide for Butler's criminal defense. First, the county asserts that Butler was not a "county officer" entitled to a defense under the statute. Second, the county argues that Butler was not a party to nor did he defend the underlying action in his official capacity, as the statute requires. Instead, the county argues that Butler defended himself in the criminal case in his personal capacity. Third, the county maintains that even if Butler was statutorily entitled to a criminal defense, he waived such a defense by failing to obtain court approval of his counsel, contrary to the provisions of Iowa Code section 331.759. The county asserts section 331.759 requires court approval of an appointment of other counsel when the county attorney is unable to conduct the defense because of a conflict.

Butler's attorneys, however, maintain that the county in the stipulation of facts admitted that Butler "was acting within his official capacity as an officer for Shelby County." As a result, Butler's attorneys assert that the County is precluded from claiming that Butler was not a "county officer" for the purposes of Iowa Code section 331.756(6) or that he was not acting within the scope of his official capacity at the time of the incident. In any event, Butler's attorneys argue that Butler should be considered a "county officer" under Iowa Code section 331.756(6) because Butler was appointed as a deputy sheriff under Iowa Code section 331.903, a provision which is found in a division of the Iowa Code entitled "County Officers."

The attorneys further argue that even if Butler cannot be considered a "county officer," he, nevertheless, is entitled to recover his defense fees and costs because the county has an "interest" in the criminal proceeding. Butler's attorneys argue that because the deputy was acting in his official capacity at the time of the incident, the county is greatly interested in the matter. An adverse finding against a peace officer, the attorneys argue, would harm the public regard for law enforcement that is essential to maintain the peace.

On the failure to obtain court approval under Iowa Code section 331.759, Butler's attorneys maintain that the burden of statutory compliance rested with the county, and not with Butler. When the county attorney withdrew from the proceeding, the county should have sought court approval for the employment of outside counsel to defend Butler. If the county had followed the statutory procedure, the attorneys argue, the court likely would have appointed his chosen counsel. As a result, Butler's attorneys argue that equitable principles dictate that the county should pay for Butler's legal defense even though court approval was not obtained.

At the outset, we conclude that there is substantial question as to whether Butler is a "county officer" under the statute. Compare Seeley v. Bd. of County Comm'rs for La Plata County, Colo., 654 F.Supp. 1309, 1313 (D.Colo.1987) (holding that a deputy sheriff is not a "county officer" either under the state constitution or code), and Employees Ret. Sys. v. Lewis, 109 Ga.App. 476, 136 S.E.2d 518, 520-21 (1964) (holding that deputy sheriffs are "public officers" but not "county officers"), with In re Uterhart, 144 Misc. 188, 257 N.Y.S. 348, 348 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1927) (holding deputy sheriffs to be county officers under relevant statute). Iowa Code chapter 331 contains a division entitled "County Officers" and lists the county attorney, county auditor, county treasurer, county recorder, and county sheriff. Iowa Code §§ 331.751, 331.501, 331.551, 331.601, 331.651. The county argues this context establishes that the term "county officer" is a term of art used to describe the public officers of the county who to some degree exercise sovereign power. Hegeman Kelch, 666 N.W.2d 531, 534 (Iowa 2003); State v. Spaulding, 102 Iowa 639, 649-50, 72 N.W. 288, 291 (1897). Whether the issue was preserved at trial, however, is clouded by the stipulation in which the parties ambiguously agreed that Butler was acting in his official capacity as "an officer for Shelby County" and by the failure of the county to address the issue in its briefing before the district court.

It is not necessary, however, to address Butler's status as a county officer¹ as he fails to meet an additional requirement in Iowa Code section 331.756(6). Specifically, Iowa Code section 331.756(6) requires that the county defend county officers only where the county officers are parties or interested "in actions or proceedings" in their official capacity. Because Butler was not defending in the underlying criminal action or proceeding in his official capacity, the claim of Butlers' attorneys fails in this case.

The attorneys erroneously assert that Iowa Code section 331.756(6) gives rise to an obligation to provide a defense for all acts or omissions of an officer while acting within the scope of the officer's duties. This kind of municipal obligation is created with respect to civil claims by the municipal tort claims...