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Regents and Human Services

Regents & Human Services is the largest division in the Office of the Attorney General. The attorneys and legal assistants in this division perform legal services for the Department of Human Services, the State Board of Regents and their respective institutions.

Board of Regents

The Regents’ institutions represented by the division are the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and the Iowa State University; the Iowa School for the Deaf and the Iowa School for the Blind.

Division attorneys represent the State Board of Regents and the Regents’ institutions in all non-tort litigation.  Regents’ litigation includes actions involving commercial transactions, construction disputes, civil rights and employment discrimination claims.  On matters of general legal advice, division attorneys work closely with attorneys in the Board of Regents office as well as the staff counsel of the three state universities.

Human Services

The Department of Human Services’ institutions include the four mental health institutions at Cherokee, Clarinda, Independence and Mount Pleasant; the Iowa Veterans Home; the Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders (CCUSO); Eldora State Training School, the Toledo Juvenile Home; Glenwood Resource Center and Woodward Resource Center.

The Department of Human Services is the largest state agency and the scope of representation provided by the Division is accordingly very broad and also quite specialized. The attorneys in the Division handle most of the non-tort litigation involving the Department and also represent the Department in a variety of administrative proceedings. Our attorneys also advise the Department on a host of contract related issues, including competitive bidding and contract negotiations.

The attorneys in the Juvenile Law section handle delinquency, child in need of assistance and termination of parental rights appeals before the Iowa Supreme Court and the Iowa Court of Appeals. The division also occasionally prosecutes those cases at the trial court level. In addition, the division represents the Department of Human Services in all contested cases involving the Child Abuse Registry, Daycare Licensing and Registration, and Foster Care Licensing.

Division attorneys provide representation to the Child Support Recovery Unit of the Department and are located in regional child support recovery offices throughout the state. The attorneys appear in court daily to prosecute child support recovery actions. The Division also provides legal support for all the attorneys in the unit as well as the Child Support Recovery Bureau.

Division attorneys provide legal advice and appear in administrative hearings involving the areas of Medicaid, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (hawk-i), and other benefits programs. The division attorneys also represent the Department of Human Services and the Department of Inspections & Appeals in actions to establish and collect medical assistance debts resulting from a transfer of assets for less than fair market value.

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