Ramsey seeks reelection

Incumbents Clarke County Attorney Adam Ramsey is up for reelection Nov. 8. No one is running against in either party.

Election day is Nov. 8. Absentee voting began on Oct. 19.

Adam Ramsey

Republican for County Attorney.

Background – tell me about yourself.

Born in the Clarke County Hospital June 1, 1970, to Natalie and Richard Ramsey.

Graduated from Clarke Community High School 1988 Active in 4H, FFA, and wrestling.

Honorably served as an enlisted soldier U.S. Army Europe 1988-1991.

Bachelor of Arts, University of Iowa 1995.

Doctor of Jurisprudence, Drake University 1998.

Iowa Bar 1998, licensed attorney for 24 years.

Master of Public Administration 1998.

Working in public service since 1999 and achieved the highest federal merit rank of Senior Executive Service (SES).

Senior Executive Fellow, Harvard University 2006.

Volunteerism: Master Mason and 4H.

Hobbies: Guns, Hi Fi, hot rods and working on cars, reading, watching movies, cooking.

How long have you been county attorney, and can you give a brief overview of your time in this position?

I have served 1 term of four years. I am the first Clarke County Attorney to publish work load metrics and to report on matters of public interest. I established the first delinquent fine collections program in the Clarke County Attorney’s Office. We have achieved dramatic results and assisted an innumerable number of citizens to get on payment plans and get their driver’s license back. I have increased criminal fine revenue to help offset the tax burden of enforcing Iowa’s criminal laws. Despite intense resistance, I have increased reimbursement for the costs of public defenders by insisting through plea negotiations that those who can pay back the legal fees for public defenders, which would otherwise fall to the law-abiding tax payers, to do so. I have improved this office’s coordination and cooperation with local law enforcement so as to better fight crime. My office disposes of the highest volume of cases in our judicial district (5B--Clarke, Adair, Adams, Lucas, Taylor, Ringgold, Decatur and Wayne).

What are your top priorities for the county, and why?

Sexual crimes against children and domestic abuse bother me greatly. I don’t like bullies and crimes of violence are taken seriously. I will continue to encourage law enforcement to always make thefts and burglaries a top investigative priority.

What makes you the best candidate for the job? If currently in this position, why should you continue?

The position is not a permanent one and it is for the voters to decide the best candidate for the job. However, I would argue that voters should want a republican in the role as prosecutor whether it is me or someone else. The prevailing woke philosophy of democrat prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys is that there should be no cash bail, that there should be no consequences such as fines other than the minimums, that there should be no jail or prison time except when there is a mandatory minimum required by law. They seem to view the perpetrators of crime as victims of society when the opposite is true. While I believe it is important to treat those accused of crimes with respect and not contempt, I believe in accountability on a case-by-case basis. Often people deserve second chances and they almost always get partial breaks and warnings. Democrat prosecutors, in my experience, don’t care about fine revenue and always assign the minimum of the range set by the legislature, they don’t care about collecting delinquent fines, and they seem to think that law enforcement on the whole is evil and inherently racist and should be defunded rather than supported.