Efforts to resolve Iowans’ arrest warrants without sending them to jail would be prohibited under a bill advancing in the Iowa House, after a woman who went through Iowa’s first-ever warrant resolution clinic was charged with murder a few days later.
Republicans on the House Government Oversight Committee blasted Polk County officials Thursday for holding a warrant resolution clinic. People with warrants for low-level, nonviolent offenses could meet with a judge and schedule a new court date without getting arrested. The clinic, held in early April, is believed to be the first event of its kind in Iowa.
A week later, Sharneeka Evans — one of about 50 people who had an arrest warrant withdrawn at the clinic — was charged with the first-degree murder of Ashley Marie Hall.
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, blamed the warrant resolution clinic for Hall’s death. He said Polk County prosecutors and the judge who handled the warrant didn’t properly consider Evans’ extensive criminal record.
“When this warrant for her arrest was recalled, she modified her lifestyle — able to live freely again, not in the shadows — and seven days later, was arrested and is alleged to have committed a murder of a mother of three,” Holt said.
He pointed to an interview Evans did with KCCI at the warrant clinic, where Evans said she wanted to “turn over a new leaf,” but her warrant for a probation violation was holding her back.
“Basically being able to work or maneuver around the community at all, because not knowing if you get picked up in the process of just helping another,” Evans said.
Ralph Hall is the father of Ashley Marie Hall. He came to the Statehouse and said criminal behavior can happen anytime, anywhere.
“What did happen with my child was very, very tragic,” Hall said. “But I honestly feel like it didn’t have any direct connection to the warrant clinics or how the warrant clinics should be used or not used pertaining to my daughter’s situation.”
He said he was surprised that lawmakers mentioned the death of his daughter, and he said he wanted to “keep a positive light going" for her.
“She was a very vibrant young lady — three children, always smiled, always liked to enjoy life,” Hall said. “Just very productive, very positive.”
County prosecutors defend warrant resolution clinic
Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham said the warrant clinic helped get about 50 people back into contact with the criminal justice system to face their charges.
“If I believed that there was any way that not holding a warrant resolution clinic could prevent homicide, I would never hold one,” she said. “That is impossible. It can’t do that.”
Holt said Evans’ past convictions for crimes like assault and theft showed a “violent pattern” that should have disqualified her from having her arrest warrant withdrawn.
Graham said the two judges at the clinic had access to the Polk County criminal records of all the defendants who attended, and the judges decided how to handle their warrants.
Justin Allen, first assistant Polk County attorney, said when he found out Evans was accused of killing Ashley Marie Hall, “it was extremely saddening.”
“Anytime someone loses their life, especially in a homicide that our office then has to prosecute, it’s always a sad situation,” he said. “The fact that it was a woman who just a few days earlier, I had helped to try to turn around her life, and her daughter was there, excited about the future, made it even more jarring.”
But Allen said he wouldn’t change anything about the clinic, saying there wasn’t a connection to the homicide. Evans was avoiding law enforcement for over two years, he said, and it was highly unlikely she would have been arrested in the week between the clinic and the murder if the clinic had not happened.
Allen said the clinic was not a “get out of jail free card,” rather, it helped bring people who were evading the criminal justice system in front of a judge to be held accountable.
Bill advances through House Government Oversight Committee
The bill (HF 2787) advanced by the House Government Oversight Committee would prohibit warrant resolution clinics and any similar efforts to allow people with outstanding arrest warrants to appear and resolve them without being immediately arrested. It would only allow people to resolve warrants by surrendering to law enforcement, appearing at a scheduled court hearing or through a standard court decision.
Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP, said the bill is counterproductive.
“We’re in a situation where this is an opportunity … to improve the justice system, to allow people to have access to justice,” she said. “And what this legislation would do, would undermine that. This punishes the solution instead of making sure that justice is for everyone.”
Holt called Iowa’s first-ever warrant resolution clinic “a profound failure.”
“Those who were involved in that process cared more about the rights of criminals and making the lives of criminals easier, than they did about the possibility of creating more victims,” he said.
Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, said it’s disturbing that the clinic treated warrants as the problem.
“With this legislation, we aim to restore the rule of law, and once again prove that we are focused on keeping Iowa communities safe,” he said. “We are not interested in treating perpetrators as the victims and allowing a system that prioritizes returning repeat criminals to the street.”
Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said warrant resolution clinics can be a tool for accountability.
“I understand and would agree that there are some parameters that could be put in place to ensure that we are looking at all of the information going forward for clients,” she said. “That being said, I strongly disagree that the tragedy that took place was a result of the warrant resolution clinic.”
The bill passed the committee with a vote of 8-3, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in support of the bill.
