Body cam shows Iowa judge slumped over wheel, wrong way on Highway 30

Newly released body camera video shows the moments after a powerful Iowa judge was found slumped over the steering wheel going the wrong way on Highway 30 last November.

Adria Kester was charged with an OWI for an incident that occurred on Nov. 4. Kester, who resigned from her position as chief judge of the state’s Second Judicial District shortly after she was arrested, pleaded guilty last year.

Kester tried to block these records from becoming public back in May. On Tuesday, she dropped her effort to block that release.

The public records released include body camera footage, 911 call recordings, and more shares what happened the night of Nov. 4.

Court records show two calls came in just before 8:30 p.m. that night about a truck slowly driving the wrong way on Highway 30 near Boone. One caller reportedly said the driver looked unconscious and was “slumped over the steering wheel.” That caller also reported that the vehicle drove into the median. Body camera footage from deputies shows the moments afterward.

According to court documents, deputies say Kester’s eyes were bloodshot and her speech was slurred. In both court records and through body camera footage, deputies say there was a cup with something smelling like alcohol inside the truck.

After Kester is cleared by paramedics, officers transport her to the hospital. She slumps over in the backseat of the officer’s car and has to be dragged out of the car on a sheet.

Court records show a search warrant had to be granted to get a sample of Kester’s blood.

In Iowa, the legal blood alcohol content level is .08. Court records show Kester’s was .254 when they collected it, which was about six hours after police found her. However, through retrograde extrapolation, a mathematical technique used to estimate a person’s alcohol concentration at an earlier time, a report released show based on those calculations, it’s believed that her blood alcohol concentration at the time of the incident would range from 0.314 to .404.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

On Tuesday, Kester released the following statement:

“On November 4, 2025, I was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. I made several mistakes that night, most seriously that I chose to get behind the wheel. I endangered myself and other people. I am forever grateful to the strangers who saw danger, called for help, and stayed to help prevent something worse from happening. I will regret my decision for the rest of my life. I pleaded guilty, accepted responsibility, and completed every requirement imposed by the court.

For more than twenty-five years, I have had the privilege of serving the people of Iowa as a public defender, prosecutor, and judge, including years presiding over a treatment court. I understand that wearing a judicial robe means more than applying the law correctly – it means earning the public’s trust every day. My actions that night fell short of that responsibility, and I am deeply sorry to the people I served, to my colleagues, and to everyone who expected better judgment from someone entrusted with that office.

Public trust matters, and accountability matters, especially for judges.

Because I am a public figure, there have understandably been public inquiries into the details of my arrest.

However, I have decided to stop trying to keep the records of my arrest from public view. I cannot ask others to be accountable while trying to decide which parts of my own story people are allowed to see. Releasing those records does not mean every question about that night has been answered, including questions I continue to work through with my physicians. It simply means I believe the public should have access to them. Some of those records may capture me at my very worst. I cannot change that, and I am no longer trying to.

Accountability requires facing the harm you caused directly and honestly. Over a few months, accountability gave way to something else: shame. I stopped seeing myself as a person who had made a terrible mistake and started believing I was nothing more than that mistake.

Throughout my career, I worked with people who believed the worst thing they had ever done would define the rest of their lives. I often ended those hearings with the same message:

“This is one chapter in your book. It is not the end of your story. Turn the page. Start a new one.”

Months after my arrest, someone I knew through treatment court reached out to me. They asked me a question I wasn’t expecting.

“Why aren’t you practicing what you preached?”

And I realized that person was absolutely right.

Judges spend much of their careers helping other people solve problems. I had spent years telling people that asking for help, whether for addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma, or any of the burdens that bring people into court, was not a sign of weakness. We are accustomed to being the person others turn to, not the person asking for support.

Admitting that I needed help was one of the hardest – and most important – lessons. I am very grateful for the support of my family, friends, and colleagues through this difficult time.

I cannot rewrite the chapter that brought me here. I will forever regret my actions on November 4th, 2025. I don’t know all the future professional and personal consequences my actions will carry – those are not up to me.

This is one chapter. It is not the end of my story. I am turning the page and starting a new one.”