DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The number of lawyers practicing in rural parts of Iowa is steadily declining because older lawyers are retiring but few young lawyers move to those areas. The Des Moines Register reports the lack of lawyers is increasingly forcing people who live in rural areas to drive significant distances to get legal help. A state database shows that 75 percent of Iowa’s attorneys work in 11 counties that all have sizeable cities.

At one extreme, Polk County – the state’s most populated county – has 2,517 attorneys. At the other end, Ringgold County in southern Iowa has only two attorneys. One of those Ringgold County lawyers, James Pedersen, wants to retire but he hasn’t been able to find anyone to buy his successful law firm.