Educational Objectives

The objectives are to familiarize students with the prosecutorial system and provide opportunities for the development of general and criminal prosecution litigation skills as students participate in pretrial and post-trial hearings, witness interviews and preparation, misdemeanor trials, and juvenile court proceedings. Students are given a copy of the internship policies and procedures, containing the expectations and objectives for the internship, at the beginning of the semester. The supervising professor communicates this information to field-placement supervisors through face-to-face, telephone and email contacts.

Faculty Supervisor

This internship was supervised by Professor James Adams for many years until his retirement after the fall term 2010. The internship was supervised for spring term 2011 by Professor David McCord. As of fall 2011, the internship is supervised by Professor Andrew Jurs.

Field-Placement Supervisors

Assistant County Attorneys generally supervise the day-to-day activities of the interns. Each of the nearby counties has several assistants, any of whom may supervise from time to time. Following is the list of County Attorneys and supervisors for counties that typically participate in the internship. Occasionally in the summer term other counties participate, and individual supervision arrangements are made with the county involved.

Dallas County:
County Attorney Wayne M. Reisetter, 207 N. 9th St., Suite A, Adel, Iowa 50003, (515) 993-5060; the primary supervisor is Assistant County Attorney Sean Wieser (515) 993-5060

Story County:
County Attorney Stephen H. Holmes, Courthouse, 1315 S. B Ave., Nevada, Iowa 50201, (515) 382-7255; the primary supervisor is Assistant County Attorney Tiffany Meredith (515) 382-7255

Warren County:
County Attorney John Criswell, 301 Administration Building, 301 N. Buxton St., Indianola, Iowa 50125, (515) 961-1014; the primary supervisor is Assistant County Attorney Brent Hinders (515) 961-1014.

Prerequisites

Students must qualify under Iowa Supreme Court Rule 31.15 for in-court student practice before participating in the program. Rule 31.15 requires that students be part of a law school approved program and have completed one-half of their law school credits. Because Evidence is a required course in the student’s second year, virtually all participating students have completed Evidence before beginning an internship.