Opinion
No. 5-398 / 04-1464
Filed June 15, 2005
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for WapelloCounty, William S. Owens, Associate Juvenile Judge.
A juvenile challenges a restitution order in a delinquency case. AFFIRMED.
Victoria R. Siegel, Ottumwa, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bruce Kempkes, Assistant Attorney General, Mark Tremmel, County Attorney, and Rose Ann Mefford, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Mahan and Zimmer, JJ.
In February 2004, someone vandalized headstones, markers, and monuments at the Ottumwa Cemetery, including removing and stealing the head from a historically notable statue of a greyhound. After a local bank offered a reward, N.G. was apprehended and the greyhound's head was recovered. N.G. was adjudicated for the delinquent acts of criminal mischief in the first degree and theft in the fifth degree. The district court then ordered N.G. to pay restitution to the City of Ottumwa Board of Cemetery Trustees (Cemetery Board), in the amount of $12,599.46, the amount required to repair the damage. N.G. appeals, arguing the Cemetery Board was not a "victim" entitled to restitution.
We review this issue of statutory construction for the correction of errors at law. State v. Finnel, 515 N.W.2d 41, 43 (Iowa 1994). After considering the arguments of the parties and the undisputed facts, we conclude the district court properly ordered N.G. to pay restitution.
N.G. argues the Cemetery Board is not a victim because it did not own any of the items he damaged. He claims the items belonged to the various individuals who purchased the headstones, monuments, and markers and that all of those individuals have died or left the area. He further argues the Ottumwa Cemetery is a perpetual care cemetery under Iowa Code chapter 566A (2003) and did not elect to maintain perpetual care over the headstones, monuments, and markers. With no contractual obligation to maintain the items destroyed, N.G. asserts the Cemetery Board acted voluntarily when it paid for the restoration of the damaged items. Thus, he concludes that the Cemetery Board is not a "victim."
The juvenile court is authorized to order restitution to the victim of a juvenile's delinquent act. Iowa Code § 232.52(2)(a). For purposes of awarding restitution, a "victim" is "a person who has suffered pecuniary damages as a result of the offender's criminal activities." Id. § 910.1(5). "Pecuniary damages" are, with certain exceptions not applicable here, "all damages . . . which a victim could recover against the offender in a civil action. . . ." Id. § 910.1(3).
Contrary to N.G.'s assertion, the city of Ottumwa operates this municipal cemetery with authority under Iowa Code sections 566.14 to 566.18. Furthermore, chapter 566A has only limited applicability to cemeteries managed by local government. Id. § 566A.1(1). As such, when property under its management was damaged, the city of Ottumwa, through the Cemetery Board had full authority to have the damaged property repaired. Even if N.G. were correct in asserting the Cemetery Board did not own or have an obligation to maintain the headstones, monuments, and markers, we would conclude the Cemetery Board has a cause of action against N.G. The city of Ottumwa suffered "pecuniary damages" and is a "victim" within the meaning of Iowa Code chapter 910.
We have considered all issues presented and affirm the judgment of the district court.
AFFIRMED.