Attorney enjoys prosecuting cases

MARENGO — Timothy Dille likes being a prosecutor. He may have the chance to finish out his career in that role with Iowa County.

The Iowa County Attorney’s position is part-time, and prior to Dille’s hiring this year, a pair of part-time assistants helped meet the needs in the office.

But one part-time assistant moved away, and the other, County AttorneyTim McMeen’s father, Lou, retired, leaving McMeen alone in the County Attorney’s office.

Dille heard about the opening, but he couldn’t take a part-time job.

Iowa County Supervisors agreed to replace the two part-time assistants with one full-time assistant, and hired Dille.

Dille moved to Williamsburg with his girlfriend in 2019 and assisted in the Poweshiek County Attorney’s office before taking an assistant county attorney position in Benton County. He had been commuting about an hour to Vinton to serve as assistant county attorney there.

Working in the county in which he lives has cut his commute to about 15 minutes.

For 20 years prior to that, Dille was the Jefferson County Attorney for 20 years. He’d run for office unopposed during most of that time, but lost the 2018 election.

Originally from Birmingham in Van Buren County, Dille graduated from high school in 1985. “I always had some idea I wanted to be a lawyer,” said Dille. He participated in mock trial in high school, and that solidified it.

Dille graduated from Coe College in 1989 and from Drake Law School in 1992. He spent five years in private practice in Keosauqua. “I didn’t like doing divorces,” he said, and he’s not good with numbers and tax law.

“But I’ve always enjoyed prosecuting.”

In April 1997, Dille became part-time assistant county attorney for Jefferson County, and in January of 1999, the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors made the county attorney position full time.

“And I ran for the position and got elected,” Dille said. “I enjoyed the work. I had a good assistant.”

Dille met his wife, Jennifer, when she was living in Fairfield. They moved to Williamsburg where Jennifer worked for Kenzie Manufacturing before retiring.

Dille likes the law enforcement part of prosecuting cases for the county. He enjoys getting to know the officers and always makes himself available to them, he said.

In Jefferson County, Dille was sometimes up at 3 and 4 a.m. writing search warrants for officers, he said. Getting in on the front end “makes a better case for me in court,” he said.

Dille prosecutes anything from traffic offenses to murder. He tried three murders in Jefferson County and tried one in Benton County during his last week working for the county attorney’s office there.

Samantha Bevans was found guilty of murdering her stepmother July 14, 2022. Prosecutors say Bevans suffocated her stepmother with a pillow while her boyfriend, Tacoa Talley choked her.

Talley was convicted in 2023.

Dille used an assistant from the State Attorney General’s Office to help with the murder case. It’s a service the state office provides.

“We may not have the resources or contacts,” said Dille. “They can devote more time to it, too, and they know the experts.”

As Assistant Iowa County Attorney, Dille will work with the Board of Supervisors and field legal questions from elected officials and unelected county officers.

“I’m just glad to be here,” said Dille. “I like being in my home county.”

He’ll be able to get to know the people where he lives and become more a part of the community, he said.