In a decision that is a blow to counties struggling to cope with strained budgets, the Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the counties must pay for attorneys for poor parents in child protection cases.

The decision stems from a Rice County case in which a judge appointed a private lawyer to represent a woman whose newborn baby had been taken away by the county.

The judge ordered the county to pay the lawyer, but Rice County commissioners refused and challenged the judge's order in the Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court agreed counties must pay, and Friday's decision further clarified the matter.

Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster has said the issue comes down to whether the money is taken from property tax rolls in each county or from the state's general fund.

He contended that the county judge should have appointed a state public defender instead of a private lawyer. Then the state would have paid.

On Friday, the attorney, Grant Sanders, said he was pleased with the decision, which he also says upholds the right for lawyers for poor American Indian parents.

"Such a right is rendered meaningless if counties can refuse to pay appointed counsel," he said.

Though all sides have agreed that poor parents need representation, the issue of which branch of government should pay arose in 2008.

That was when the state Board of Public Defense said it would no longer provide public defenders to represent adults in "CHIPS" cases. That's an acronym for "Child in Need of Protective Services."

The board cited financial and personnel pressures, including a $3.8 million budget shortfall at that time. It faces more cuts in July.

In a special opinion issued Friday, the high court concluded that the Legislature had intended the cost of such representation to be the obligation of the counties.

The court issued a similar ruling Friday in a Crow Wing County case. In it, the justices found that a district court judge had not erred when he held commissioners in civil contempt for refusing to pay a court-appointed attorney.

Joy Powell • 951-882-9017