Assistant Polk County Attorney Meggan Guns, a Democratic candidate for Dallas County Attorney, will meet and greet voters this Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Canisteo Room of the Hotel Pattee.
Guns has served as Assistant Polk County Attorney since 2017 and worked in the Dallas County Attorney’s office for six years before that. She briefly outlined her autobiography on her campaign’s Facebook page:
I’m originally from Dubuque, Iowa, and attended Loras College, earning my B.A. in business management, Spanish and legal studies, spending a semester attending the university in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
After undergrad, I attended Drake University and earned my law degree and MBA. I was a member of the national ranking AAJ Mock Trial team, the student Honor Board (reviewing code of conduct violations), the Student Bar Association treasurer, on the moot court board, a Supreme Court Day competition finalist (which allowed me to argue a mock case before the Iowa Supreme Court) and a member of the Negotiations team.
Upon graduation, I worked in private practice for a year, primarily in family law, and joined the Dallas County Attorney’s office in 2010. I moved to the Polk County Attorney’s office in 2017, working for a number of years in the Drug and Gang Bureau, and for the last four years have worked in the Major Offense Bureau, primarily prosecuting homicides, sex offenses and crimes against children along with other felony and misdemeanor offenses.
My husband, Matt, and I have two daughters in the Waukee School District and have lived in Dallas County since 2009.
I welcome the chance to bring my experience back to Dallas County to serve all citizens and work to keep our community safe.
Earlier this month, Guns spoke on a conference panel about child neglect, touching topics such as:
- recognizing the complexities of child neglect,
- understanding neglect in relation to the Iowa Code,
- understanding the impact of neglect on mental health and development,
- learning how to identify neglect in a medical setting,
- understanding how to report and what happens after neglect is reported.
The panel presentation was part of the Unity Point 2023 Pediatric Nursing Conference. Guns, as an Assistant Polk County Attorney, spoke as a representative of the metro child neglect work group, which also included DHHS Child Protection Policy Program Manager Roxanne Riesberg, Blank Children’s Hospital STAR Center Therapist Kate Simmons and STAR Center Nurse Practitioner Katie Scott.
“The child neglect work group began meeting in 2021 with a goal of working across specialty areas to educate front-line workers to identify and allow for early intervention in cases of child neglect,” Guns said. “The team consists of members from around the metro representing law enforcement, prosecution, health and human services, pediatric mental health, pediatric nursing/medical care and forensic interviewers.”
