Board names new county attorney

By Mary Zielinski
Posted 3/15/23

It was all numbers at the Washington County Supervisors special meeting Saturday that, after one failed motion, one defeated one, and one final motion that passed 3-2, Nathan Repp was selected to be …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Board names new county attorney

Posted

It was all numbers at the Washington County Supervisors special meeting Saturday that, after one failed motion, one defeated one, and one final motion that passed 3-2, Nathan Repp was selected to be new Washington County Attorney.  He will succeed John Gish who left in January to lead a team in the Iowa Attorney General’s office.  Repp, who is senior assistant county attorney for Scott County, was notified shortly after the special session and reportedly accepted the offer.

The meeting just met the 40-day deadline for naming a replacement and had all five supervisors in attendance, including Stan Stoops, who had had surgery, joining via telephone conference call.

In the public comment segment at the meeting’s opening, there were several residents who recommended Shane McChurch, Kalona, a current assistant county attorney for Washington County.  

During the approximate 50-minute session, board members reviewed the interviews and resumes of the three candidates with Jack Seward Jr., making the first motion to select Zachary Miller of Washington, a staffer with the attorney general’s office.  The motion failed for lack of a second.

Following further discussion, a motion was made to select McChurch but it was defeated in a 2-3 vote with board Chairman Bob Yoder and supervisor Richard Young in favor and Seward, Marcus Fedler and Stoops opposed.

Further discussion ensued with a few strained moments, and during which Yoder noted that in the candidate interviews (held February 17) Repp “…interviewed best of all.” At that time, Repp had stated that Scott County has one of the highest number of cases in the state and that he has been involved with 50 to 70 jury trials.  

The motion to select Repp passed 3-2 with Yoder and Seward opposed and Fedler, Young and Stoops in favor.

Under Iowa code, voters have 14 days to petition for a special election which must have signatures numbering at least 10 percent of the total votes cast in the last election, November 6, 2022.  At that time, votes totaled 8,874.

If there is no request for a special election, Repp likely will be sworn into office within a few weeks, officials said.