Former legislator named acting state public defender

DES MOINES - Former state legislator Kurt Swaim has been named acting state public defender, replacing Sam Langholz who has taken a new state post supervising the administrative law judges within the Iowa Department of Inspections & Appeals, a state official said Monday.

Under a change that took effect last Friday, Gov. Terry Branstad named Swaim to serve as an interim head of the State Public Defender's office until Langholz's permanent replacement is appointed, said Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers. The currently is no time frame for when a new appointment will be made, he added.

Langholz, who was appointed by Branstad to serve as the Iowa State Public Defender in December 2010 and confirmed by the Iowa Senate in April 2011, will take over as administrator of the state Department of Inspections & Appeals' administrative hearing division.

The state public defender's office is responsible for coordinating Iowa's indigent defense system, which ensures that defendants who cannot afford to hire an attorney are provided legal representation in criminal, juvenile, and other eligible proceedings in the most efficient and fiscally responsible manner.

More than 200 employees in 18 local public defender offices around Iowa provide representation for the indigent, primarily in criminal and juvenile cases.

The state public defender also contracts with more than 1,000 private attorneys and several nonprofit organizations throughout Iowa to provide court-appointed representation in cases that public defender offices are unable to handle.