Meet Jonah

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I'm from south-central Phoenix, Arizona; the second of six children. 

Shortly after I graduated from high school, I left the country to be a missionary for two years in Mexico, returning in December of 2003. The day after I arrived home I enrolled in the local community college. Three months later, I married my high-school sweetheart. Over the next three years I worked full-time as an officer in the Arizona Department of Corrections while going to school full-time in the evenings, graduating Arizona State University in December 2006.

Our little family moved to Des Moines in 2007 for law school at Drake University.  Throughout law school, I worked several jobs - some at the same time - to provide for my growing family; including as a pizza delivery driver, a job I kept even after I was licensed to make ends meet while my practice was in its infancy. 

I graduated from Drake University Law School in 2010. Shortly before graduation, I was invited by a few of my classmates to join them in starting a law firm. What we started, literally from the ground up, became a successful, full-practice law firm, with my practice quickly zeroing in on criminal defense – more specifically – the defense of low-income Iowans in Polk County as a court-appointed attorney. In 2012, I left the firm to strike out on my own and formed JHD Law. While a number of my classmates began their careers as sole-practitioners, many have since joined law firms or otherwise found the job they were hoping for. I count it as a blessing to be one of the few sole-practitioners in my cohort “still standing”.

For over 15 years, I’ve been in court several times a week, virtually every week, dedicating my career to defending thousands of Polk County residents who cannot afford to hire an attorney. I’ve worked tirelessly to provide top-flight legal representation to people on the margins of society; people who feel disenfranchised and passed-over; people who feel treated unfairly and forgotten by the system. I know their stories. I’ve felt their pain. I’ve shared a pew with them in church. I’ve shared meals with them in my home.

I believe in the rule of law. When we trust the system, and each do our best to uphold it, we are most likely to create safe and thriving communities.

I believe in equal justice. The outcome of a person’s case should never depend on their income, race, gender, sexuality, occupation, religion, nationality, or any other classification.

I believe in the power of personal responsibility. When people do their best, they can overcome any obstacle or hardship.

I believe in the capacity of our courts to synergize just outcomes for all participants. 

I believe in Polk County. I believe in people over politics.  Join me to restore trust in Polk County.