Thomas D. Farnsworth was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Iowa and the Henry B. Tippie College of Business.
During Thomas' undergraduate experience, he clerked at a local law firm and worked as a pretrial interviewer for the Sixth Judicial District of Iowa. In 2004, Thomas began the accelerated program at the University of Iowa College of Law and graduated in December of 2006.
While in law school, Thomas was licensed by the Iowa Supreme Court to work as a prosecuting legal intern from May 2005 to December 2006 in Johnson County. Through this time, he prosecuted simple misdemeanor cases, including traffic violations, alcohol offenses, thefts, and assaults.
Thomas also assisted in the prosecution indictable related offenses such as operating while intoxicated, thefts, embezzlement, and assaults.