DES MOINES, IA–Nicholas A. Klinefeldt announced today that he will step
down as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, effective November
15, 2015. After leaving office, Mr. Klinefeldt will become a partner in the Des Moines
office of an international law firm.
"Serving as United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa has been the
greatest honor and privilege of my career," United States Attorney Klinefeldt said today.
"I am grateful for the trust placed in me by President Obama and appreciate the
opportunity I have had to work with Attorneys General Holder and Lynch and the other
dedicated professionals across the Department of Justice. I have been inspired by the
ongoing commitment to justice displayed by the lawyers and staff in the Southern District
of Iowa. They work hard every day to protect the communities across Iowa, and
vigorously represent the United States."
On September 25, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Mr. Klinefeldt to be
the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. The United States Senate
unanimously confirmed his nomination on November 21, 2009, and he was sworn into
office on November 25, 2009. Prior to his appointment as United States Attorney, Mr.
Klinefeldt practiced white collar criminal defense in Boston, Massachusetts, and then
both civil and criminal law in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Klinefeldt received his B.A. with
honors and his J.D. with distinction from the University of Iowa. He clerked for U.S.
District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa and Chief Justice
Christopher J. Armstrong and Justice Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Appeals
Court.
As United States Attorney, Mr. Klinefeldt has been a member of the Attorney
General's Advisory Subcommittee on White Collar Crime and co-chair of the Attorney
General's Advisory Subcommittee on Criminal Practice. As co-chair of the
Subcommittee on Criminal Practice, United States Attorney Klinefeldt worked with other
leaders in the Department of Justice, on a national basis, to update and expand discovery
policies to ensure defendants receive all of the information they need to adequately
defend themselves, and revamp sentencing practices to ensure the end result of a
prosecution is fair.
Locally, United States Attorney Klinefeldt developed a comprehensive discovery
policy for the Southern District of Iowa that ensures criminal defendants receive even
more information about the case against them than is required by the rules and that they
receive it quickly. This policy included the development of a Stipulated Discovery and
Protective Order that is now universally used in all criminal cases across the district.
United States Attorney Klinefeldt also changed the way the office utilized mandatory
minimum sentences, to ensure that they were only used when absolutely necessary.
As United States Attorney, Mr. Klinefeldt has served as the chief federal law
enforcement officer for the Southern District of Iowa. He has taken great pride in the
relationships he and the office have developed with their federal, state, and local law
enforcement partners. United States Attorney Klinefeldt emphasized and expanded white
collar crime enforcement in the Southern District of Iowa. Under United States Attorney
Klinefeldt's leadership, the office also brought two major civil rights cases against Des
Moines Police Officers for excessive force.
Mr. Klinefeldt's leadership of the United States Attorney's Office included not
only being extensively involved in each of the cases brought by his office, but also
personally handling and trying to juries several prosecutions himself.
The Southern District of Iowa covers 47 of Iowa's 99 counties, and includes
Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Ames, Iowa City, Davenport, and Burlington. The United
States Attorney's Office, with staffed offices in Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and
Davenport, has 26 Assistant United States Attorneys and is responsible for conducting all
criminal and civil litigation in the district involving the United States government.
# # #
