(URBANDALE) – Gov.-elect Terry Branstad announced today that Mark Schouten will serve as the director of the Office of Drug Control in the Branstad-Reynolds administration.
“I am pleased to announce Mark as the new head of the Governor’s Office on Drug Control Policy,” said Branstad. “Mark’s knowledge from his experience as a county attorney, his service in the Iowa Attorney General’s office and his work with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Division of Narcotics Enforcement will be critically important in his new endeavor.”
The Governor’s Office on Drug Control policy formed in 2000 and works to improve the health and safety of all Iowans by working to reduce drug use and the other related crimes.
“I look forward to serving the governor, lieutenant governor, and the citizens of Iowa in the important areas of substance abuse treatment and drug enforcement,” said Schouten.
Schouten served in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office for five years. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Schouten served as an Assistant Ethics Counsel for the Iowa Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Ethics and as the Sioux County Attorney for twenty years.
Schouten received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Iowa State University and graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law. He is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association.
His wife, Carrie Schouten, is a probation/parole officer with the Fifth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.
Mark and Carrie live in Norwalk, Iowa. They have one son, Will, who is a medical student at The University of Iowa.
For more information on the Branstad/Reynolds transition, please visit www.GovernorBranstad.com .