Mahaska County To Share An Attorney With Keokuk County
Mahaska County Courthouse
Oskaloosa, Iowa- The Mahaska County Supervisors have approved another 28E agreement, as their services are continued to be requested to be shared among smaller neighboring counties with fewer resources. At a special meeting of the Mahaska County Supervisors on Thursday, December 27, the board heard from outgoing County Attorney Jim Blomgren, who reported on a request from Keokuk County to share an assistant county attorney.
Current Keokuk County Assistant County Attorney Chauncey Moulding was elected Jefferson County attorney in the November elections. As a result, he will be resigning as Assistant Keokuk County Attorney as he looks to begin his new position in January. Moulding had previously been shared as assistant Keokuk County Attorney between Keokuk and Washington Counties. Incoming Keokuk County Attorney Amber Thompson, who previously was the Mahaska County Magistrate Judge, approached Blomgren about the idea of sharing an assistant county attorney. Blomgren said that it would be a benefit for both counties, due to caseloads, to add a county attorney and partially share that position with Keokuk County.
“We have had since 2014, an increase in files that we have opened by three times. In 2014, our records indicate there were 471 cases opened, not including traffic or juvenile cases. In 2017, we opened 1,317 cases,” Blomgren said. “Those numbers make it difficult and completely inefficient for us to send one or two lawyers for a week to try a single felony case when they could be taking care of 25 other ones. A new assistant with Keokuk County, from Mahaska County’s standpoint, would assist with the possibility of using our trial dates more effectively, having more trials, and hopefully over a period of time that would resolve cases more quickly as well,” Blomgren added.
Blomgren also noted that there are two assistant county attorneys in Mahaska County. One of those attorneys is married and lives in Des Moines. Blomgren said that were the right opportunity to present itself, it is quite possible that attorney may leave the Mahaska County Attorney office.
“If that happened now, it would be difficult to cover the cases that he handles. On an ongoing basis, he has I would estimate 400 files that he deals with at any given time of the year,” Blomgren said.
Incoming Mahaska County Attorney Andrew Ritland was also present for the meeting. Ritland gave his blessing to the 28E agreement. Ritland concurred with Blomgren’s assessment that the addition of a new assistant county attorney would allow the county to manage the current trial schedule for Mahaska County better.
“I absolutely support more trials. I think it’s good that the citizens of the county make the call in some of these cases. I think sometimes the criminal justice system can seem behind closed doors and I think leaving it to the people to decide, I think it’s really better to do that versus us make the call,” he said.
Incoming Keokuk County attorney Amber Thompson was also on hand to answer any questions the board had for her. She noted that she is the only attorney in Keokuk County unless she can find a county willing to share an attorney with her. She noted that the attorney would be in Keokuk County mainly on court service days. During the times that she will be trying a case in front of a judge or jury for several days, the shared attorney will spend more time in Keokuk County and handle any other attorney functions that are necessary at that time. Thompson also added that the Keokuk County Supervisors will be considering the approval of the 28E agreement at the December 31 meeting.
All three supervisors expressed support for the 28E, noting the need. However, when it came time for the supervisors to make a decision, nobody made a motion right away. Supervisor Groenendyk stated his personal preference that the board hold off on making a decision two weeks until the next meeting so that the public can have time to digest the proposal, based on media reports, and offer feedback. After Supervisor Van Weelden noted that the next meeting is less than a week away, a motion was made to approve the 28E. The vote on the motion was unanimous. The 28E will next go to approval in Keokuk County, where it is expected to be approved.
Mahaska County will begin advertising for an additional assistant county attorney in January, with Ritland noting that the decision will likely be made by February.
