Sarcone receives first Mary Maloney Public Service Award

Iowa Chapter of ASPA recognizes attorney’s four decades of public service.

DES MOINES, April 2, 2022. Polk County Attorney John P. Sarcone is the recipient of the Iowa Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) inaugural Mary Maloney Public Service Award. The award presentation will take place in the Polk County Historical Courthouse on May 2nd during National Public Service Week.

The Mary Maloney Public Service Award honors the memory of Mary Maloney, career public servant and member of ASPA’s Iowa Chapter. Ms. Maloney passed away in 2021 after serving more than 30 years as Polk County Treasurer.

Mr. Sarcone’s public service career began in the Polk County Offender Advocate Office (now the Des Moines Adult Public Defender Office). He then served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Iowa in the Attorney General’s Environmental Law Division including leading that division for eight years. In 1990, the people of Polk County elected Mr. Sarcone as their County Attorney. He has been reelected seven times. As County Attorney, Mr. Sarcone led a team of attorneys, paralegals, and other professionals representing the State of Iowa and Polk County in thousands of criminal prosecutions, civil litigations, juvenile delinquencies, and Child in Need of Assistance cases. He has served as President of the Iowa County Attorneys Association and remains a member of the Association’s Board. A longtime member of the National Association of District Attorneys, Mr. Sarcone served as the Iowa State Director for the NDAA from 1998-2000, and continues as a member of NDAA’s Board of Directors.

Since his first day on the job as a line public defender through his service in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and continuing through his 28 years as Polk County Attorney, John Sarcone has epitomized what it means to be a public servant. The Iowa Chapter of ASPA is proud to name him as the recipient of the Mary Maloney Public Service Award for 2022.