(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is facing a shortage of attorneys, and prosecutors in one northwest Iowa county are working harder to keep up. Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis says his office needs five more attorneys to be at the full capacity of 18, so he and his staff are working longer hours to cover an increasing criminal caseload. “So, it’s lent itself to many challenges,” Loomis says. “My day usually starts at six o’clock in the morning, and it usually ends around midnight, and then, I get up the next day and do it all over again.” The county recently approved higher salaries to try to entice people to apply.

The president of the Iowa State Bar Association, Ian Russell, says there is a need for lawyers in all areas of the profession, especially in smaller communities and for indigent defense work. “If there was a single reason why,” Russell says, “I would address that reason and do my best to fix it.” Russell says it’s a combination of factors that are keeping some from pursuing a career in law. “Some of it’s just the aging population, some of it’s people not interested in law,” Russell says. “Some if it’s people not interested in being in Iowa.”

From 2014 to 2022, the number of licensed lawyers who live and practice in the state has fallen by more than 260, or about 3.5%.