Assistant Linn County attorney fired after OWI arrest

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden has fired a longtime attorney in his office who has been charged with drunken driving next door in Jones County.

Vander Sanden's move comes before Jeff Clark, who has served as an assistant Linn County attorney for 26 years, has been found guilty or not guilty in Jones County District Court.

Vander Sanden said this week that his decision to fire Clark was 'my judgment call based on the facts and circumstances as I knew them to be.”

'There is no precedent for a situation like this in Linn County,” Vander Sanden said. 'I do not ever recall an assistant in this office being charged with OWI. This was purely a judgment call on my part.

'I have high expectations regarding the conduct of the personnel in this office given the serious nature of our legal duties and responsibilities. We have to practice what we preach… .”

Vander Sanden praised Clark while firing him.

'He was a valued assistant who gave 26 years of loyal and dedicated service in this office to the citizens of Linn County,” the county attorney said of Clark.

Vander Sanden said Clark is the one who told him about the drunken driving charge in Jones County.

Jones County Attorney Phil Parsons said this week that Clark, 60, lost control of his vehicle and crashed on Highway 1 north of Martelle about 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7. He was alone, and was taken by ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

Jones County Sheriff's deputies cited Clark for failure to maintain control of his vehicle, a charge to which he pleaded guilty on March 5.

Parsons charged Clark on March 31 with operating while intoxicated at the time of the Dec. 7 crash.

Parsons said Clark was administered a blood test after the crash rather than a breath test to determine the content of alcohol in his system. A breath test provides more immediate results than a blood test, Parsons said.

Parsons said Clark's blood test showed his blood alcohol content was .237, three times the legal limit.

Clark entered a not guilty plea to the OWI charge on April 8. A trial has been scheduled for June 24 in Jones County District Court.