Some question Adam Gregg’s lack of criminal experience

CEDAR RAPIDS - The nominee to lead the State Public Defender's Office has no criminal law experience, which some Iowa lawyers fear could hurt the agency charged with providing legal representation to indigent Iowans.

Gov. Terry Branstad appointed Adam Gregg, 31, of Johnston, to lead the agency last week. Gregg, a Republican who lost the Nov. 11 election for Iowa Attorney General, must be confirmed by the Iowa Senate.

'Is he qualified for the job? Can he do the position?” asked Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'Those will be the decisions the Senate will weed out.”

The State Public Defender oversees 200 state employees working in 14 Iowa cities as well as court-appointed private lawyers to provide legal counsel for Iowans who can't afford it. The agency's fiscal 2015 budget is $55.8 million.

Sam Langholz left the post in October to oversee administrative law judges for the Department of Inspections and Appeals. Former state lawmaker Kurt Swaim had been acting state public defender since Nov. 3.

Gregg's appointment appears to be based on politics rather than experience, said Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington.

'It's kind of a consolation prize,” he said. 'When somebody runs for office and gets beat, the governor puts them somewhere else.”

Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers defended Gregg in an email earlier this week: 'The governor is confident that Adam will serve honorably and ensure that every Iowan is provided the constitutional right to counsel.”

Gregg graduated with high honors from the Drake University Law School in 2009. He worked at Des Moines law firm BrownWinick for three years, but did not practice criminal law.

He served as Branstad's lobbyist and adviser before running for Attorney General earlier this year. Gregg lost to veteran AG Tom Miller, 56 percent to 43 percent.

'During the campaign, I traveled all over the state promising to stand up for the Constitutional rights of Iowans,” Gregg said in an email to The Gazette. 'Though the votes didn't add up for me on election night, serving as State Public Defender will allow me to fulfill that promise every single day.”

The office approved in July new requirements for court-appointed lawyers. For Class A and B felonies, a lawyer must have four years of criminal law experience or have served as lead counsel in five jury trials.

The minimum to represent adults on misdemeanors is a one-day criminal law training provided by the office.

While Gregg hasn't met those criteria, he doesn't anticipate a challenge.

'The State Public Defender has historically not defended clients at the trial level, and I am not seeking to do so,” he said. 'Instead, the SPD has been focused on the efficient administration of the system, including working with our various field offices throughout the state, and reviewing and approving claims from private sector attorneys.”

Some longtime criminal lawyers bristle at the notion Gregg can run the office without experience trying criminal cases.

'I have socks that have been in criminal law longer than these people,” Cedar Rapids lawyer James Moriarty said about Gregg and Langholz, who had no full-time criminal law experience when appointed.

Tom Henderson, a trial lawyer with Whitfield & Eddy in Des Moines and chairman of the Polk County Democratics, said criminal defense can be a tough sell when it comes to funding.

'There hasn't been support for that from the governor's office,” Henderson said. 'He (Gregg) probably will do the governor's bidding and will try to find ways to economize the office.”

An experienced criminal lawyer weighs caseloads and understands how national court cases might affect Iowa law, said Dick Klausner, who worked as a public defender in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City for 26 years before retiring in 2008.

However, if Gregg is willing to listen to seasoned lawyers and advocate for their work in Des Moines, he can be successful, Klausner added.

'I'm far more concerned about his zeal than about his background,” he said.