White v. White, 296 Neb. 772

Elizabeth White filed for dissolution; the district court appointed James McGough as attorney for the minor children and later ordered the parties to pay his fees.
White did not pay; after bankruptcy discharge, McGough sought to have Douglas County pay his fees under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-358(1), asserting White was indigent.
The district court found White indigent and ordered Douglas County to pay McGough; Douglas County appealed.
This court (in White v. White) reversed, holding the district court abused its discretion because White was not indigent.
After mandate issued, McGough sought reimbursement from Douglas County for fees incurred defending Douglas County’s appeal; the district court ordered the county to pay $1,719.87.
Douglas County appealed that order; the Supreme Court reversed, holding the district court lacked statutory authority to require county payment where no responsible party is indigent.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court could order Douglas County to reimburse appointed attorney McGough for fees spent defending Douglas County’s appeal	McGough argued the district court could award appellate fees and relied on court rule § 2-109(F) for court-appointed attorneys’ appellate fee applications	Douglas County argued no statute permits payment of such fees by the county when no responsible party is indigent, and McGough failed to seek fees timely from the appellate clerk	Reversed: no statutory basis to compel county payment for appointed counsel’s fees in a dissolution where no responsible party is indigent; such public expenditures require legislative authorization

Mathews v. Mathews, 267 Neb. 604 (court reviews questions of law de novo)
Wetovick v. County of Nance, 279 Neb. 773 (attorney fees recoverable only by statute or established procedure)
State v. Joubert, 246 Neb. 287 (courts’ inherent power to award fees for vexatious or bad-faith litigation conduct)
State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Royal Ins. Co., 222 Neb. 13 (same principle on inherent fee awards)
Garza v. Garza, 288 Neb. 213 (uniform procedure exists for awarding attorney fees in dissolution cases)
Guenzel-Handlos v. County of Lancaster, 265 Neb. 125 (county powers strictly construed; public-fund expenditures governed by Legislature)
Kovarik v. County of Banner, 192 Neb. 816 (limited judicial authority to order county to pay defense fees in criminal cases implicating fundamental rights)
Brackhan v. Brackhan, 3 Neb. App. 143 (county has standing to appeal orders requiring it to pay appointed-attorney fees)