Accusations leveled against County Attorney
Mahaska County Courthouse
by Charlie Comfort
Oskaloosa, Iowa- At Monday’s Mahaska County Supervisors meeting, the supervisors heard comments from Nick Drost, of rural Mahaska County. Drost stated that his shop has been subject to three different burglaries and that he has had significant amounts of tools and other property stolen from him. Drost stated his belief is that he isn’t the only person to have had an issue with burglaries.
“I think countywide these burglaries have been quite the epidemic,” Drost said. He also presented statistics to the Supervisors that he said showed the City of Oskaloosa’s burglary rate is 65% higher than the state average. Drost expressed his opinion that that rate spills over into the county.
“That doesn’t say too much for around here,” Drost said.
In his comments to the board, Drost expressed frustration with County Attorney Jim Blomgren, in particular how Blomgren had resolved one particular burglary that had occurred to Drost’s property. He stated that after one of the burglaries, he located some of his stolen property. Through cooperation with the Sheriff’s office, an arrest was made, and on May 1st, charges of second-degree theft, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm by a felon were filed against Jeremy David Williams in connection with the burglary.
Online court records indicate that on June 30, Williams pled guilty to second-degree theft. Pursuant to a plea deal, the possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance charges were dismissed. On July 14, Williams was sentenced to five years in prison on the theft charge. Williams is currently in prison.
Prior to the plea deal being offered to Williams and Williams ultimate guilty plea, Drost said that he was contacted by Blomgren in regards to a possible plea deal. Drost stated that he informed Blomgren at that time that as the “victim” of the crime, he was opposed to any plea deal and felt that if there was hard evidence, the case should proceed to trial. Drost stated that Blomgren told him he had already decided to offer the plea deal to Williams and that it was “done.” Blomgren has stated that it is part of the responsibility of the County Attorney to make these decisions.
Drost decried Blomgren’s practice of offering plea deals to resolve cases, particularly in burglary cases. He stated that a message needs to be sent to criminals in the area. Blomgren believes no better message could be sent than to have Williams gone to prison.
“There needs to be a precedent set so that criminals know that if you burglarize in the county, Mahaska County will take the time to make sure they are prosecuted as severely as possible; and that plea deals are not an option,” Drost said.
After his shop suffered another burglary on August 10, Drost stated that he requested another meeting with Blomgren and the county sheriff’s office. At this meeting, Drost said to the supervisors that Blomgren expressed that plea deals were “easier and more time efficient” methods to solve the case.
“If this is the way it is, which obviously it is, maybe the law abiding citizens in Mahaska county along with you three supervisors should be asking for the resignation of this position by Jim Blomgren,” Drost said.
Drost added that he believes local citizens should exercise their rights under Iowa’s Stand Your Ground law to protect their property.
In closing out his remarks, Drost acknowledged that the County Attorney position is an elected position and that the Supervisors have no control over how Blomgren operates his office. He did, however, suggest the Supervisors cut the County Attorney’s Office budget as a way to oppose using plea deals to resolve cases pending. Such a cut would undoubtedly reduce the County Attorney’s ability to enforce the law.
Supervisor Chairman Mark Doland responded to Drost by reminding him that the Board has little direction over the County Attorney’s Office.
“The only pressure you can put on a County Attorney is political pressure,” Doland said. Doland also stated that if every case was to be tried in the court system without a plea deal, as was initially suggested by Drost, the court system could become overloaded.
“If you tried every case we wouldn’t have enough time in the year. The court system would be overloaded,” Doland said. “The court system, in general, is backed up,” he added.
Jim Blomgren has served as Mahaska County Attorney since 2015. He became County Attorney after former County Attorney Amy Zenor resigned to take a position closer to home. Blomgren was elected, unopposed, to fill out the rest of the four-year term in last year’s general election. Before serving as County Attorney, Blomgren was Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial District from 2001-2012 and was a District Court Judge from 1998 until his appointment as Chief Judge. Blomgren was also previously an attorney in private practice in Oskaloosa for over 20 years.
Blomgren’s practice of using plea deals to resolve cases is nothing new to the criminal justice system. According to a 2011 report put out by the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance, 90 to 95 percent of all criminal cases in the US are resolved by a plea deal. However, the report states that those who go to trial rather than accept a plea are more likely to receive harsher sentences.
“Plea bargaining is an inherent part of the criminal justice system. An official ban on plea bargaining is therefore impractical,” states the report.
The report also outlines possible reforms to the plea bargaining process, such as restricting plea bargains to less serious offenses. Another option included involving all parties in the case, such as the judge as well as defense attorneys and prosecutors to ensure any sentence reached in a plea deal is balanced and equitable to all.
