Des Moines attorney reprimanded after second OWI arrest

A Des Moines attorney has been publicly reprimanded for his second drunken-driving arrest.

The Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board alleges that attorney David Lee Brown, 79, was the subject of a complaint to police on Oct. 8, 2025, reporting he had been driving in an erratic manner, swerving between lanes, driving into oncoming traffic and leaving the roadway.

When police located Brown in the driveway of his home, his vehicle allegedly showed fresh damage and Brown appeared confused, with slurred speech and impaired balance. According to the board, when police asked Brown to rate his level of intoxication on a scale of 1 to 10, he rated himself at 6 or 7, then declined to submit to sobriety testing.

Court records show Brown later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving. The records also show that a 2020 arrest for drunken driving was handled in a similar manner, resulting in a conviction on a reduced charge of reckless driving.

In deciding to issue Brown a public reprimand for the most recent incident, the board made note of what it called Brown’s “prior disciplinary history,” and indicated his previous drunken-driving arrest had resulted in a private admonition from the board.

“Operating a vehicle while intoxicated creates a grave risk of harm to the public and demonstrates a serious lapse in judgment,” the board stated.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Brown for comment.