Our Staff

Ed Bull

Ed Bull was born in Edison, NJ, and moved to Kansas City when he was 10 years old. He attended Rockhurst Jesuit High School in Kansas City, Missouri, attended Drake University where he received his degree in Political Science in 1998, Ed immediately enrolled in Law School at Drake, obtaining his Law Degree in 2001 where he graduated with honors.   Upon passing the bar, he went to work for a small firm in Des Moines, where he left after 6 months and founded the Bull Law Office PC. He grew his firm into a 5 attorney firm in less than 10 years.  

In August of 2009, Ed moved his family from Des Moines, to Marion County so that he could run for elected office, as the Marion County Attorney.  He won the election with nearly 65% of the vote and took over the office in January of 2011.  Ed was reelected in November 2014 and 2018.  Ed handles the juvenile court, sexual assaults, child abuse, and homicide docket in the office as well as supervising 3 assistant county attorneys, and 5 support staff.  

Ed is well respected by his fellow County Attorneys as he has been elected to serve as the Iowa State Director to the National District County Attorney Association, and the President-Elect of the Iowa County Attorney’s Association. He is the Vice Chair of Iowa Maternal and Child Health Advisory Council and a member of the Iowa Child Death Review Team.  In his spare time, he is an Iowa State Certified Mixed Martial Arts Judge. He also is a part time professor in the Business Department at Grand View University.  Ed is the Knoxville High and Middle School Mock Trial Coach.  

He is married to his incredibly patient and supportive wife Pam and has two sons, AJ age 16, and Tyler age 11.  They call Pleasantville, Iowa home.

Jared Harmon

Jared is a graduate of Simpson College where he received degrees in Economics and Business Management in 2002. He attended law school at Creighton University and graduated in 2005 with a specialization in Criminal Law. Jared maintained a legal practice in Des Moines from 2005 until 2014 when he joined the Marion County Attorney’s Office. Currently, Jared prosecutes all drug cases and felony property crimes in the county. He also handles all truancy matters and civil forfeitures.

Jared is a member of the best practices committee for the Iowa County Attorney’s Association, an adjunct professor at Grandview University, and a certified instructor for the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy for reserve deputy training. 

Ross Gibson

Ross Gibson was born in Iowa and has lived in Iowa for most of his life.  He attended and graduated from the University of Iowa in 2005, majoring in philosophy.  While at Iowa, Ross was also a member of the golf team.  After earning his undergraduate degree, Ross attended and graduated from Drake Law School in 2008, receiving his Juris Doctorate. Ross became licensed in the State of Iowa to practice law in 2008.  His first job as an attorney was at a small firm in the Des Moines, Iowa area.  In that position, Ross practiced primarily in the areas of criminal and juvenile law.  Ross then opened his own practice of law as the owner and operator of Gibson Law Firm in Urbandale, Iowa in 2010.  He maintained his practice of law until 2016 when he accepted a position as an Assistant Marion County Attorney.

As an Assistant County Attorney, Ross prosecutes offenses including sex abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, assaults, ongoing criminal conduct, and homicide or serious injury by vehicle.  He also advises and represents the County in various civil law matters.  Ross is the County Attorney’s Office representative on the County wide Safety Committee.  

In his free time, Ross enjoys playing golf, following Iowa Hawkeye sports, and playing Civilization 6 on his PC.

Joy Messer

Joy received her undergrad degree in history with a minor in political science at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL.  She worked as a legal assistant at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom LLP in Chicago before earning her J.D. at Chicago-Kent College of Law.  After passing the bar, Joy served as the district director for a state representative in the Chicago suburbs for four years.  She then moved to Charleston, IL, where she handled traffic, misdemeanor cases, felony cases as a prosecutor in Coles County, IL.  She also served for three years as the prosecutor for drug court, an alternative prosecution program designed to help addicts break the criminal cycle and provide counseling, training, and supervision to help defendants become sober long term rather than sending them to prison.  

In 2020, Joy relocated to Iowa and joined the Marion County Attorney’s office.  She handles post-conviction relief, traffic, misdemeanor, domestic abuse, and OWI cases, and assists with litigation technology.