Rob Sand is Iowa’s bipartisan incarceration champion

State Auditor Rob Sand is running for re-election on a promise to put more non-violent Iowans behind bars.

Sand announced this week he will seek a second term next year instead of running for governor as many expected him to do. He’s also renewing his push for a new state law to ensure prison time for people who steal money from the government.

It’s a bad look for Iowa’s self-proclaimed “law and order Democrat.” Iowa needs fewer people in prison, not more.

“I’ve prosecuted Republicans and Democrats and will continue to ignore partisan affiliation as State Auditor.”

Sand’s office this month pre-filed a bill for next year’s legislative session. The legislation would prohibit courts from deferring or suspending sentences for offenders who steal more than $10,000 in the course of their work as government employees.

Sand has been promoting the idea at least since 2019. He told me back then it was about deterrence.

“If we tell people who do this you're going to be treated like a criminal, I think we actually can deter people from doing it because they're less likely to risk that reputational value,” Sand said during an interview two years ago.

The same day he filed his pro-carceral bill, Sand also released a special investigation report about tens of thousands in misused funds in Promise City, a tiny town in southern Iowa.

A former city clerk forged signatures and paid herself twice as much as she was supposed to earn between 2013 and 2020, according to the auditor’s report. That amounted to $26,000 for almost seven years of work. The clerk, who is additionally accused of spending tens of thousands in city funds on personal expenses, now faces felony charges for first-degree theft and forgery.

Those laws are already on the books and carry prison sentences up to 10 years. Clearly, that was not enough to deter a city employee with a $200 per month salary from using city funds to pay her own utility bills. People who earn $200 per month are probably more worried about keeping their heat on than about preserving their professional reputation. For comparison, Sand makes more than $100,000 per year.

Stealing public money is very bad but it’s hard to see what throwing offenders in prison is supposed to accomplish. They pose no immediate threat to public safety and their incarceration is yet another burden on Iowa taxpayers.

Cracking down on fraudsters and thieves was a key theme in Sand’s 2018 campaign. His previous job was a prosecutor in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. In his first campaign announcement, he made the pitch that he would put people in jail regardless of their party affiliation: “I’ve prosecuted Republicans and Democrats and will continue to ignore partisan affiliation as State Auditor.”

During his first term as auditor, Sand has created a new position for law enforcement to work on auditor’s investigations. The goal is to get more convictions and in turn incarcerate more people.

Sand might be best known for takes on breakfast pizza. Behind the folksy veneer there apparently is a burning desire to put people in jail.

Rigid sentencing guidelines like the ones Sand is promoting are one cause of our state and nation’s incarceration crisis. For Sand, it seems to be about law and order for law and order’s sake.

(319) 339-3156; adam.sullivan@thegazette.com