Polk County Attorney's Office

Have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend. Let us remember the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.

Our offices will be closed Monday for the holiday.

Meet Yenny Soley, a legal assistant and victim liaison in our Criminal Division. She and the other employees in the office are dedicated to serving victims and our community and pursuing justice to create a safer Polk County for everyone.

"I understand the patterns and warning signs, and I was still a victim,” the victim wrote. “That is because abusers do not present themselves as abusers in the beginning. They hide, they manipulate, and they escalate over time. If someone trained to recognize these behaviors can still be victimized, that speaks to how dangerous individuals like him are.”

Ankeny man sentenced to 25 years in prison on domestic abuse, kidnapping case - Polk County Iowa An Ankeny man was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for kidnapping, threatening, and assaulting the mother of their children.

We honor those law enforcement officers for their service and thank their families for their sacrifice.

The Des Moines Police Department is cautioning the community as overdose deaths surge in April.

Since the beginning of the year, detectives with our Vice & Narcotics Control Section have responded to nine overdose deaths; seven occurring since the beginning of April.

In all of 2025, detectives investigated 15 overdose deaths.

As detectives continue to investigate the source(s), and they await complete toxicology reports, the preliminary investigations indicate that these are opioid-related overdoses.

If you are aware of an overdose happening, CALL 911.
Immediate action is essential to survival.

Iowa's Good Samaritan law protects people from prosecution for certain charges if they call 911 to report an overdose.

Resources are available today! The Polk County Health Department Harm Reduction strategy includes access to free Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose, and Des Moines Fire Department, Polk County and Full Circle Recovery are partnering to provide the Rapid Engagement and Community Health (REACH) Program to treat, serve, and support people with opioid use disorder throughout Polk county. For more info on the REACH program, contact the DMFD team at 515-850-9737 or [email protected].

If you have any information regarding the illegal distribution of these deadly drugs, please call 515-237-1594. You may also submit tips using the “Submit A Tip” function on the DMPD mobile app, or online at www.crimestoppersofcentraliowa.com. You may remain anonymous.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office cordially invites our community to stand with us as we pay tribute to the heroes who gave everything in the line of duty.

Our annual Memorial Ceremony serves as a time of reflection, where we gather to honor the courage, sacrifice, and enduring legacy of our fallen officers.

Please join us on Friday, May 15th, at 1:00 PM to show our collective gratitude and support for the families and colleagues left behind. Together, we ensure that their service is never forgotten and their stories continue to inspire us all.

📍 PCSO Headquarters - 5995 NE 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50313

On April 23, 2026, the Polk County Attorney's Office participated in this successful nationwide anti-human trafficking operation. We continue to prosecute human trafficking cases, working with other agencies in Iowa and with our federal partners.

129 Human Trafficking Victims Identified In One Of The Largest Anti-Trafficking Operations In U.S. History Home News PR Newswire 129 Human Trafficking Victims Identified In One Of The Largest Anti-Trafficking Operations In U.S. History 129 Human Trafficking Victims Identified In One Of The Largest Anti-Trafficking Operations In U.S. History Provided by PR Newswire Apr 24, 2026, 4:31:00 PM 129 Human Traff...

The Polk County Attorney's Office distributed the following press release this evening regarding recently proposed legislation that would ban warrant resolution clinics in Iowa:

For Immediate Release

Des Moines~ Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham: Proposed Ban on Warrant Resolution Clinics Would Decrease Public Safety, Crowd the Jails, and Endanger Law Enforcement Officers.

There is proposed legislation to ban warrant resolution clinics in Iowa. This law, if passed, will cause people with a low-level, non-violent criminal charge to avoid accountability, and will
endanger the safety of law enforcement officers and the community.

I appeared yesterday at the legislative subcommittee meeting, about this proposed law, prepared to answer questions legislators may have about the clinic. However, Representative Holt barred elected officials from speaking at the hearing. There is now a social media post accusing the Polk County Attorney’s office of wrongdoing and there are inaccuracies that must be addressed.

To be clear, the warrant resolution clinic on April 3, 2026 was a collaborative effort between the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), the 5th Judicial District Judges, the Clerk of
Court, the County Attorney’s Office, and the Public Defender’s Office. This was not a new idea. The CJCC had learned that other jurisdictions across the nation had done warrant resolution
clinics, with success. Together, we spent about 6 months planning this event with a clear, narrow mandate: to bring non-violent misdemeanor offenders back into the system to
answer for their charges, fulfill their court obligations, and pay their debts. We began publicly promoting the clinic in February 2026.

The clinic was a criminal justice tool for accountability. By providing an environment for individuals to voluntarily resurface, we transitioned approximately 50 people from evading
accountability, to taking accountability. We required them to face a judge, just as they would had they turned themselves in at the courthouse or had they been arrested on the warrant, and to schedule a new court date to answer to their charges. The clinic did not dismiss Ms. Evan’s charge. The clinic simply brought offenders back under the court’s supervision.

Regarding the tragic homicide on April 10, we were shocked, horrified, angry, and saddened upon learning of the heartbreaking loss of Ms. Hall. If there was a causal connection between warrant resolution clinics and violent crimes, I would never support them, but the fact is that one does not cause the other.

I am very limited in what I can say about an active prosecution, but must correct the inaccuracies. At the time of the clinic, Ms. Evans had one active warrant, for a probation violation following a guilty plea to misdemeanor forgery, a lower level, non-violent offense. When she received probation in 2023, a judge **considered her entire criminal history** and
found that she was appropriate for community supervision.

Since 2023, Ms. Evans has had no criminal charges or convictions until the very recent murder charge. There is nothing, of which we are aware, to indicate that the homicide was going to
happen. People with criminal convictions are put on probation by judges every day. Some of them will go on to commit more crimes. We don’t get rid of probation entirely because a few
people on probation commit new crimes. We in law enforcement and prosecution do our best to hold people accountable and prevent crimes, and sometimes they happen regardless of our best efforts.

Courts are only allowed to consider criminal convictions, not allegations, when making determinations about whether to put someone on probation. Ms. Evans’s criminal record contained several misdemeanor convictions, some of which occurred more than 25 years ago. She has no felony convictions. She received probation for her most recent offense, after a judge
considered her entire criminal history. We have recently run her national criminal history (NCIC) report and know this to be accurate.

When she voluntarily came forward at the clinic, her warrant had been active for over two years. During that time, she was living in the Polk County community. Again, I can’t discuss the specific facts of the homicide on April 10 because it’s an active prosecution in our office, but can say that knowing the facts as we do, it makes no sense to conclude that the recall of her warrant caused the homicide. Some may argue there is a “correlation” but as we know, correlation does not equal causation.

Completely banning warrant resolution clinics will not stop unpredictable acts of violence; it will only ensure that other low-level offenders continue to evade accountability.

The proposed change to the law mandates that no warrants could ever be resolved without arrest and jail time. If the law changes to mandate that every person who misses a court date
for a low-level, non-violent crime - due to a flat tire, a sick child, or because they miss their court date for any other reason, must go to jail – more people will evade accountability.

If we put every low-level, non-violent offender in our jail, we would not have enough jail space to incarcerate the people who are a physical safety risk to our community.

When people evade accountability, it puts our law enforcement officers at significant risk. A routine traffic stop can become a potentially dangerous situation for the police officer, the
offender, and our community when someone tries to drive or run away because they are afraid of arrest and jail. It is far safer for law enforcement, the offender, and the community if people are
afforded the chance to address low-level, non-violent offenses in ways that do not endanger police, the community, or the offender.

Again, if there was a causal connection between warrant resolution clinics and violent crimes, I would never support them, but the fact is that one does not cause the other. Banning warrant resolution clinics will only decrease community safety, not increase it.
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Please direct all press inquiries to [email protected]

Yesterday, Enosh Kelley pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony. His sentencing has been scheduled for June 12. He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and be placed on the S*x Offender Registry for life.

Assistant Polk County Attorney Caleb Copley is prosecuting this case.

https://who13.com/news/des-moines-chef-changes-plea-to-guilty-in-sexual-abuse-case/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRY3rBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF0WVJjaHlFRjBEc3NuY29Pc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHuJvL0l62JQpYebEnGcDt0JXP9XY26IiMP3Nfz576t1duj6Acunx_FM8bpBi_aem_3fMj706DA4u9a5cYAdK8Uw

Des Moines chef changes plea to guilty in sexual abuse case DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines chef charged with sexual abuse for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman while she was asleep has changed his plea to guilty. Enosh Kelley Online court records…