Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers said she is withdrawing her nominating papers and will not run for a second term. She made the announcement in a news release issued Monday.
Beavers said she changed her mind about running because of criticism over her decision to drop charges against Marc Johnson. He is director of the Danville Care Center. Johnson was accused of taking money from a patient's account.
Beavers said that pursuing charges could have led to dire consequences for the nursing home.
“Closing a nursing home and forcing 36 elderly people out of the place they and their families know as their home is not who I am. Nor is it who I will ever be,” Beavers wrote in the news release.
“If closing this nursing home is what the community expects from their county attorney, I am not the right county attorney.”
Beavers made an agreement not to pursue the case against Johnson if he paid the court costs and did not violate any laws for two years.
TSPR’s Jason Parrott and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
