Floyd County attorney Ginbey announces resignation to take Hancock County position

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County attorney – who was just reelected to another four-year term in November – has announced her resignation to take a position in a neighboring county.

Rachel Ginbey submitted a letter on Wednesday to the county auditor, saying her resignation would be effective March 12.

“I have accepted the position of Hancock County Attorney and my start date is March 13, 2023,” Ginbey wrote, and then detailed the process for choosing her replacement.

The Hancock County attorney position became open last month when Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed the then-county attorney there, Blake Norman, to be a district court judge for District 2A, which consists of Floyd, Hancock, Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Mitchell, Winnebago and Worth counties.

Norman was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of District Court Chief Judge James Drew.

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors will make the decision on how to replace Ginbey. Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn said the matter will be on the agenda for the board’s meeting next week, which will take place Tuesday morning instead of the usual Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday.

According to Iowa Code, the supervisors can appoint someone to fill the office or call for a special election to be held.

“If the Board of Supervisors elects to appoint someone (the most cost effective choice for the county), that term would last until the next general election. The Board of Supervisors also must appoint someone within 40 days after the vacancy occurs,” Ginbey said in her resignation letter.

“The Board of Supervisors would need to publish notice as prescribed in section 331.305 that they intend to fill the vacancy by appointment, but the electors of the county would have the right to file a petition requiring the vacancy to be filled by special election,” Ginbey wrote.

“Notice may be published prior to my resignation date. The person that is appointed is not required to live in Floyd County until the time of appointment, allowing any qualified applicant to be considered,” she wrote.

Ginbey was first elected Floyd County attorney in 2014, after joining the list of candidates seeking to replace longtime County Attorney Normand Klemesrud, who had planned to retire. Klemesrud died in August, before the election, and another of the candidates for the office, attorney William Barasel, was appointed interim county attorney.

Ginbey defeated Barasel and another candidate, attorney Ann Troge, for the position in the regular election, and since the office had been filled by an interim she took office immediately after the election instead of waiting until the beginning of the next year.

Ginbey was reelected in 2018 and 2022, running unopposed both times.

Prior to her position in Floyd County, Ginbey had been an assistant county attorney in Cerro Gordo County, where Blake Norman, who she is replacing in Hancock County, was also an assistant county attorney at the time.

She earned her law degree in 2009 from Creighton University and has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Northwestern College.

Her father, Paul Martin, was Cerro Gordo County attorney for 24 years, retiring in 2010.