Stephan K. Bayens was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety by Governor Kim Reynolds on January 14, 2019. Commissioner Bayens previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, where he was assigned to combat violent crime as the coordinator for the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood initiative.
For 15 years, Commissioner Bayens was an Assistant Polk County Attorney in Des Moines, Iowa, where he specialized in drug and gang prosecutions and asset forfeiture. Prior to that he was an Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Special Litigation Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and was an Attorney Clerk for the Iowa Court of Appeals. His publications include The Search and Seizure of Computers: Are We Sacrificing Personal Privacy for the Advancement of Technology?, 48 Drake Law Review 239 (2000) reprinted in 27 Search & Seizure Law Reports 49 (2000).
Commissioner Bayens has spoken extensively on issues related to search and seizure, the successful prosecution and investigation of gang and drug-related cases, and the use of technology in criminal investigations. He is a 1996 graduate of Central College in Pella, Iowa and a 1999 high honors graduate of Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. While attending Drake University Law School, Commissioner Bayens served as a legal research and writing teaching assistant and on the editorial board of the Drake Law Review.
Commissioner Bayens can be reached at:
Iowa Department of Public Safety
Commissioner’s Office
215 E 7th St
Des Moines IA 50319
515.725.6182