(1) When appointed by a court of appropriate jurisdiction, the public administrator may act as a conservator, temporary conservator, special conservator, trustee, or other fiduciary of any estate that has assets requiring protection. Each county department of human or social services may refer any resident of that county, or any nonresident located in that county, to that county's public administrator for appropriate protective proceedings if the department determines that the person meets the standards required for court protective action.

(2) Any case referred to the public administrator pursuant to this section by a county department of human or social services must be presented to the court of appropriate jurisdiction by a petition that states to the court that the public administrator has been requested by the county department of human or social services to act as a conservator or other fiduciary for the person in need of protection, that the public administrator is the nominee of that department, and that the public administrator is not acting as an attorney for that department. The public administrator may prepare and file such a petition if requested to do so by the county department of human or social services. The fact that a public administrator has been requested by a county department of human or social services to act as a conservator or other fiduciary shall not be construed by the court as granting any priority for his or her appointment, and the court shall make that determination solely upon the best interests of the person in need of protection. If the public administrator is not appointed as conservator or other fiduciary and the court determines that another individual should act as the conservator or fiduciary, the court may award reasonable fees and costs to the public administrator if the court determines that the efforts of the public administrator were beneficial to the estate or contributed to the protection of the protected person's assets. In cases where the court awards fees and costs to the public administrator, to the extent that such funds are available, such fees must be paid from the protected person's estate. In cases in which the public administrator is not compensated from the protected person's estate, the court may approve the payment of such fees from state funds designated for the payment of court-appointed counsel or fiduciaries. The court may determine the amount of fees to be paid from such state funds as it deems to be just.

(3) In any case in which the public administrator has been nominated to act as conservator or other fiduciary at the request of the county department of human or social services and the case develops into a contested court proceeding, the department's own attorney shall assume all aspects of the contested court case, and the public administrator must not be required to be involved in such hearings unless specifically directed to do so by the court.

(4) Missing persons. A public administrator has standing to petition a court of appropriate jurisdiction for his or her appointment to act as a conservator, temporary conservator, or special conservator to protect a person's assets and manage the person's estate if:

(a) The person is missing, detained, or unable to return to the United States; and

(b) No interested person has initiated protective proceedings to accomplish this purpose.