04/25/2026
The Polk County Attorney's Office distributed the following press release this evening regarding recently proposed legislation that would ban warrant resolution clinics in Iowa:
For Immediate Release
Des Moines~ Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham: Proposed Ban on Warrant Resolution Clinics Would Decrease Public Safety, Crowd the Jails, and Endanger Law Enforcement Officers.
There is proposed legislation to ban warrant resolution clinics in Iowa. This law, if passed, will cause people with a low-level, non-violent criminal charge to avoid accountability, and will
endanger the safety of law enforcement officers and the community.
I appeared yesterday at the legislative subcommittee meeting, about this proposed law, prepared to answer questions legislators may have about the clinic. However, Representative Holt barred elected officials from speaking at the hearing. There is now a social media post accusing the Polk County Attorney’s office of wrongdoing and there are inaccuracies that must be addressed.
To be clear, the warrant resolution clinic on April 3, 2026 was a collaborative effort between the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), the 5th Judicial District Judges, the Clerk of
Court, the County Attorney’s Office, and the Public Defender’s Office. This was not a new idea. The CJCC had learned that other jurisdictions across the nation had done warrant resolution
clinics, with success. Together, we spent about 6 months planning this event with a clear, narrow mandate: to bring non-violent misdemeanor offenders back into the system to
answer for their charges, fulfill their court obligations, and pay their debts. We began publicly promoting the clinic in February 2026.
The clinic was a criminal justice tool for accountability. By providing an environment for individuals to voluntarily resurface, we transitioned approximately 50 people from evading
accountability, to taking accountability. We required them to face a judge, just as they would had they turned themselves in at the courthouse or had they been arrested on the warrant, and to schedule a new court date to answer to their charges. The clinic did not dismiss Ms. Evan’s charge. The clinic simply brought offenders back under the court’s supervision.
Regarding the tragic homicide on April 10, we were shocked, horrified, angry, and saddened upon learning of the heartbreaking loss of Ms. Hall. If there was a causal connection between warrant resolution clinics and violent crimes, I would never support them, but the fact is that one does not cause the other.
I am very limited in what I can say about an active prosecution, but must correct the inaccuracies. At the time of the clinic, Ms. Evans had one active warrant, for a probation violation following a guilty plea to misdemeanor forgery, a lower level, non-violent offense. When she received probation in 2023, a judge **considered her entire criminal history** and
found that she was appropriate for community supervision.
Since 2023, Ms. Evans has had no criminal charges or convictions until the very recent murder charge. There is nothing, of which we are aware, to indicate that the homicide was going to
happen. People with criminal convictions are put on probation by judges every day. Some of them will go on to commit more crimes. We don’t get rid of probation entirely because a few
people on probation commit new crimes. We in law enforcement and prosecution do our best to hold people accountable and prevent crimes, and sometimes they happen regardless of our best efforts.
Courts are only allowed to consider criminal convictions, not allegations, when making determinations about whether to put someone on probation. Ms. Evans’s criminal record contained several misdemeanor convictions, some of which occurred more than 25 years ago. She has no felony convictions. She received probation for her most recent offense, after a judge
considered her entire criminal history. We have recently run her national criminal history (NCIC) report and know this to be accurate.
When she voluntarily came forward at the clinic, her warrant had been active for over two years. During that time, she was living in the Polk County community. Again, I can’t discuss the specific facts of the homicide on April 10 because it’s an active prosecution in our office, but can say that knowing the facts as we do, it makes no sense to conclude that the recall of her warrant caused the homicide. Some may argue there is a “correlation” but as we know, correlation does not equal causation.
Completely banning warrant resolution clinics will not stop unpredictable acts of violence; it will only ensure that other low-level offenders continue to evade accountability.
The proposed change to the law mandates that no warrants could ever be resolved without arrest and jail time. If the law changes to mandate that every person who misses a court date
for a low-level, non-violent crime - due to a flat tire, a sick child, or because they miss their court date for any other reason, must go to jail – more people will evade accountability.
If we put every low-level, non-violent offender in our jail, we would not have enough jail space to incarcerate the people who are a physical safety risk to our community.
When people evade accountability, it puts our law enforcement officers at significant risk. A routine traffic stop can become a potentially dangerous situation for the police officer, the
offender, and our community when someone tries to drive or run away because they are afraid of arrest and jail. It is far safer for law enforcement, the offender, and the community if people are
afforded the chance to address low-level, non-violent offenses in ways that do not endanger police, the community, or the offender.
Again, if there was a causal connection between warrant resolution clinics and violent crimes, I would never support them, but the fact is that one does not cause the other. Banning warrant resolution clinics will only decrease community safety, not increase it.
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