New felony rehabilitation Linn County prosecutor takes on lower level crimes

The Linn County Attorney’s Office has a newly created position of a felony rehabilitation prosecutor who will handle a caseload of lower-level felony crimes where offenders are most suitable for probation and rehabilitative measures in the justice system.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks and Assistant Linn County Katherine Shimkat, who started the new position July 1, explain how this role helps the entire office and ultimately serves the community better.

Q: What kinds of cases will the rehabilitation prosecutor handle?

A: The less serious felony crimes where the offenders are still good candidates for probation because of their lack of criminal history or possibly their substance abuse or mental health issues. This would include property crimes, fraudulent practices, forgeries, second-degree theft, third-degree burglary and Class D and C drug offenses.

The reality of the system is that people don’t typically get sent to prison for a lower level felony offense (depending on criminal record), which is good thing. They might get probation or a deferred judgment and the department of corrections has tools and resources to help these people while still deterring them. If that’s the reality anyway, then we need to have somebody at the table to provide that consistent voice on the matter. — Maybanks

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Q: Why was Shimkat appointed for this new role?

A: Katherine was a natural fit for this. She was already the prosecutor on the drug court team and will continue handling those cases. She’s had advanced training in the area of drug court and in more specific rehabilitation measures used to address addiction and mental health. She has a passion and dedication to the cause of rehabilitation.

She has been with the office for seven years, handling indictable misdemeanors. — Maybanks

Q: Katherine, why do like working on the drug court team?

A: It has given me better insight into what they’re facing, whether that is sobriety focused or more general societal issues — like housing. I think that being aware makes me a better prosecutor because we can then focus our rehabilitative efforts more effectively. It also gives me better insight into when I, as the prosecutor, need to shift my attention from their rehabilitation needs into the protection of the community. It’s hard but rewarding work.

I’m not normally privy to a defendant’s day-to-day life as a prosecutor, but in drug court, I get more of that information — their struggles — because we (drug court team) see them every week. Not only does that give me better information to use in my role, but it also gives me access to when things are going well and allows me to celebrate those things with the defendants. I think it helps humanize the person on both sides of the table and also shows the participants that the prosecutor wants them to do well. — Shimkat

Q: Has being in drug court prepared you for the rehabilitation position?

A: Yes. I have more insight than I did without the weekly contact with defendants and know more about what resources are available to them. I also know more details about the programs we ask people to complete and whether my expectations are realistic or if the excuses are just excuses. I think those lessons will certainly stretch to others with addiction issues, but also to the different types of crime I will be handling. — Shimkat

Back to Maybanks

Q: How many felony assistant county attorneys are in the office now?

A: There are six and me, but I don’t carry a full caseload because I have other administrative duties in the office. With the felony rehabilitation prosecutor, I’m hoping to lower the caseloads for each of the other felony prosecutors who handle the higher level and violent crimes.

I’ve done some number crunching. I looked at the last three years to get Katherine’s caseload to about 160 to 170 per year, which will help lower others to 80 or so, which will give them more time to do good work on those and spend more time with the victims. Maybe take more cases to trial than we have been able to do. — Maybanks

Q: In the past, each felony prosecutor has both lower and higher level felonies in their caseloads?

A: Typically, they have worked all crimes — like drug and property, which there are a lot of- across the board — but those take away time from sex abuse and homicide cases. I always envisioned having a position like this, since I was elected. It’s always been on the back burner. — Maybanks

Q: Haven’t you asked for an additional prosecutor in the last few years?

A: I started asking for an additional attorney in 2021. The Linn County Board of Supervisors approved this one in June. I’m excited about this position because working for last 25 years as a prosecutor, we’ve never been specialized before. We are doing it in the right way because we have someone suited for it and focusing on cases where we have best shot to create contributing members of society by doing it.

It’s always been my driving philosophy on the criminal justice system. Let’s move cases toward agreements, probation and supervision when it’s warranted to have time to pursue violent crime. — Maybanks

Q: Does this open up opportunity to create other specialized positions in the future?

A: I think so. In prosecutors’ offices across the state and country, there are many unique positions being created — like for domestic abuse and white collar crime. I think this could be a template for other offices to use. — Maybanks

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com