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Ralph R. Brown


502 15th Street
P.O. Box 250
Dallas Center, IA  50063-0250
Phone: (515) 992.3728
Fax:      (515) 992.3971
ralphbrown@dallascenterlawyers.com

 

 

 

 

Ralph R. Brown, a seventh generation Iowan, was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, on December 13, 1944, and raised on a farm near where his forbearers first settled in Iowa in 1837. He received his B.A. in political science (with honors) in 1967 from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and his J.D. in 1969 from the Drake University Law School.

For three and a half years after law school graduation, Ralph was employed as an associate attorney with the Dircks, Berger & Saylor law firm in Davenport, Iowa. During that time he was also an Assistant Scott County Attorney, assigned to Juvenile Court.

From 1973 to 1975, Ralph served as the Secretary of the Iowa State Senate, and was the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Iowa from 1975 to 1977.

In 1977, Ralph joined the McDonald, Keller & Brown law firm in Dallas Center, and is currently the senior partner of the Brown, Fagen & Rouse firm. He has served as the Dallas Center City Attorney since 1984; as the school attorney for the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District since 1986; and as the Granger City Attorney since 1990. Ralph has an 'AV' rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Ralph was appointed by Governor Robert D. Ray as a member of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (1969-1975), and served as chair of its Committee on Legal Rights. He was a member of the Drake University Board of Trustees from 1970 to 1978, and from 1976 to 1977 he chaired the Iowa Voter Registration Commission.

He was appointed by two U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture to serve on the United States Department of Agriculture Citizens Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity (1984-1993), and served as the Committee's vice chair. From 1992 to 1993, he was one of Governor Terry E. Branstad's appointees to the Iowa State Government Ethics Committee.

President George H.W. Bush appointed him as a member of the President's Commission on Model State Drug Laws, serving from 1992 to 1993. In 1993 he was a founding director of the non-profit National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, which continues the work of the President's Commission. He has served as the Alliance's corporate counsel since 1993, and as vice chair since 1996.

Governor Branstad appointed Ralph to the Iowa Commission on Substance Abuse in 1995, and he held that position through 2001. Since 1999 he has been a member of the Board of Directors (and general counsel) of Face It Together, a non-profit organization chaired by Senator Charles E. Grassley that works to develop strategies for Iowa communities, families, and businesses to respond to the challenges of drug and alcohol abuse.

Ralph was a Presidential Elector from Iowa in 1972; served as general counsel to the Republican Party of Iowa from 1977 to 1993; was Dallas County Republican Chairman from 1981 to 1989; served as deputy counsel to the Committee on Rules for the 1984 Republican National Convention; was an alternate delegate to the 1980 and 1984 Republican National Convention; and a delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention. He was a member of the Dole for President political operation team at the 1996 Republican National Convention, and a member of the Bush for President political operation team at the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Ralph is a member of the Dallas County, Iowa, and American Bar Associations. He was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1969; to the District of Columbia Bar in 2002; to the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Iowa in 1969; to the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in 1989; and the United States Supreme Court in 1981. He lives in Dallas Center.

In his general practice, his areas of practice include: business and commercial law; business organizations; wills, trusts, estate planning, and probate law; taxation law and tax returns; real estate law; municipal and school law; and election, campaign and political law.

Representative Cases:
Clymer v. Shawd, 2007 WL 3963957 (Iowa App. 2007)

In the Matter of the Estate of Maxine R. Davis, 2002 WL 31758110 (Iowa App. 2002)

Hays v. Hays, 2000 WL 1421722 (Iowa App. 2000)

Hays v. Hays, 612 N.W. 2d 817 (Iowa App. 2000)

United States of America v. Articles of Drug for Veterinary Use, 50 F. 2d 497 (8th Cir. 1995)

Drake v. Polk County Board of Supervisors, 340 N.W. 2d (Iowa 1983)

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