Right to counsel

Indigent parents have a right to counsel upon request in termination of parental rights cases. Iowa Code § 232.113(1) states:

Upon the filing of a petition the parent identified in the petition shall have the right to counsel in connection with all subsequent hearings and proceedings. If the parent desires but is financially unable to employ counsel, the court shall appoint counsel.

In In re E.J.C., the court held that the statutory right to counsel cannot be denied to an indigent parent facing involuntary termination proceedings, even where the request for counsel is made on the eve of the hearing. 731 N.W.2d 402, 404 (Iowa Ct. App. 2007).

As to the right to counsel on appeals, the Iowa Supreme Court has stated,

[T]he right of appeal without [the right to counsel and the right to a transcript of the evidence introduced] is a mere sham and fails to meet constitutional requirements… We see no reason why the appointment of counsel for plaintiff under section 232.28 should be construed to terminate when the hearing before the juvenile court was concluded. That section does not so provide; and when plaintiff was given the statutory right to appeal, it must have been contemplated that such an appeal would require the services of counsel. We hold therefore that the appointment of counsel to represent plaintiff should continue through all stages of the proceedings including an appeal as authorized by statute.

In Interest of Chambers, 152 N.W.2d 818, 821 (Iowa 1967).  Although it is not clear what the statute in effect at the time of the Chambers decision stated, the current right to counsel provision found at § 232.113 is also silent as to the right to counsel on appeals, fails to define the language “all subsequent hearings and proceedings”, and does not appear to limit “subsequent hearings and proceedings” such that representation should “terminate when the hearing before the juvenile court [is] concluded.”