Osceola City Attorney Richard J. Murphy’s law license was suspended May 27 after an appeal from a Grievance Commission report recommended that Murphy be publicly reprimanded.
According to Iowa State Supreme Court documents the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board alleged that “Murphy violated ethical rules when representing his wife in her capacity as conservator and guardian and in representing the seller and buyer in the sale of the ward’s home.”
After the recommendation for public reprimand upon further review the Supreme Court found Murphy had committed “several serious ethical violations” and suspended him from the practice of law of 18 months. According to Supreme Court documents, Murphy has been practicing law in Iowa for 45 years and had never been disciplined to this point.
City seeks new attorney
The City of Osceola will soon be searching for a new attorney. In addition to advertising the position on websites including the Iowa League of Cities, City Clerk Ty Wheeler said the city intends to contact attorneys across the Osceola community and give them the opportunity to apply for the position. Wheeler said they'd like to see someone local end up in the position. However, he said that a lot of communities share attorneys so that may be what the city ends up doing as well.