Attorney General Brenna Bird visits Fairfield

FAIRFIELD – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird toured TrafFix Devices in Fairfield on Friday, Jan. 16, during a swing through the southeastern part of the state.

After the tour, Bird fielded questions from The Union about court cases at the local, state and federal level.

BRADY-GIGLIO LAW

The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 11 in a case between Jefferson County Sheriff Bart Richmond and the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office that revolves around Richmond’s placement on the Brady-Giglio list in 2024. Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding placed Richmond on the list, but a district court judge ruled in 2025 that Richmond’s name should be removed from the list, a document of officials the prosecutor deems unreliable as witnesses.

Moulding is appealing the district court’s ruling on the grounds that the portion of Iowa law that granted Richmond a judicial review of his placement on the Brady-Giglio list is unconstitutional. The Union asked Bird to weigh in on the case and what she thought of Chapter 80F.1(25), the portion of the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights that gives those on the Brady-Giglio list the right of judicial review of the prosecutor’s decision.

Bird said her office will not be involved in this case specifically, and will not submit an amicus brief since it’s a county matter and not a state matter. At the same time, she was willing to share her thoughts about the part of Iowa code that is at issue.

“I think it’s important that law enforcement officers who are placed on the Brady-Giglio list, that that is correct. And if it’s not correct, and an officer shouldn’t be on that list, there should be a way that officer has to right that because that’s their reputation and their career,” Bird said. “If an officer should not be on that list, then there needs to be a way to fix that.”

WINNESHIEK COUNTY SHERIFF

The Union asked Bird about a lawsuit she filed in March 2025 against Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx for a Facebook post he made in which he said he would not comply with ICE detainer requests because he believed them to be unconstitutional. Bird argued this violated the state’s law that required law enforcement to comply with ICE detainers and cooperate with immigration enforcement. In a motion filed in response to the lawsuit, Marx referred to Bird’s petition as “nothing more than thought policing.”

Despite the initial drama between the two officials, Bird said she met with Marx’s attorneys and they agreed that Marx would comply with ICE detainers and not “discourage immigration law enforcement in his county,” and thus Bird agreed to drop the lawsuit in July.

“We’re looking to make sure our law is being followed,” Bird said. “It’s my job to enforce our law and make sure we don’t have any sanctuary counties in Iowa.”

JAN. 6 PARDONS

The Union asked Bird about the 10 Iowans who received a pardon from President Donald Trump for their participation in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Two of those Iowans, men named Kyle Young and Earl Jordan, were charged with assaulting a police officer. The Union asked Bird if she was pleased with the pardons, and she declined to comment on those cases since she was not involved.

“I was not involved in that at all,” she said. “I think President Trump had talked about pardons during his campaign, so I think we all knew that was likely.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com