230.25 - FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION BY SUPERVISORS.
230.25 FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION BY SUPERVISORS.
1. Upon receipt from the county auditor of the list of names
furnished pursuant to section 230.21, the board of supervisors shall
make an investigation to determine the ability of each person whose
name appears on the list, and also the ability of any person liable
under section 230.15 for the support of that person, to pay the
expenses of that person's hospitalization. If the board finds that
neither the hospitalized person nor any person legally liable for the
person's support is able to pay those expenses, they shall direct the
county auditor not to index the names of any of those persons as
would otherwise be required by section 230.26. However the board may
review its finding with respect to any person at any subsequent time
at which another list is furnished by the auditor upon which that
person's name appears. If the board finds upon review that that
person or those legally liable for the person's support are presently
able to pay the expenses of that person's hospitalization, that
finding shall apply only to charges stated upon the certificate from
which the list was drawn up and any subsequent charges similarly
certified, unless and until the board again changes its finding.
2. All liens created under section 230.25, as that section
appeared in the Code of 1975 and prior editions of the Code, are
abolished effective January 1, 1977, except as otherwise provided by
subsection 1. The board of supervisors of each county shall, as soon
as practicable after July 1, 1976, review all liens resulting from
the operation of said section 230.25, Code 1975, and make a
determination as to the ability of the person against whom the lien
exists to pay the charges represented by the lien, and if they find
that the person is able to pay those charges they shall direct the
county attorney of that county to take immediate action to enforce
the lien. If action is commenced under this section on any lien prior
to the effective date of the abolition thereof, that lien shall not
be abolished but shall continue until the action is completed. The
board of supervisors shall release any such lien when the charge on
which the lien is based is fully paid or is compromised and settled
by the board in such manner as its members deem to be in the best
interest of the county, or when the estate affected by the lien has
been probated and the proceeds allowable have been applied on the
lien. Section History: Early Form
[C39, § 3604.1; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79,
81, § 230.25]
Referred to in § 228.6, 230.15, 230.30, 331.381, 331.502,
331.756(47)