House Journal: Page 65: Wednesday, January 15, 1997

Mrs. Jo Ann McGiverin, wife of the Chief Justice and Ed and Joe
McGiverin, cousins of the Chief  Justice were escorted into the
House chamber.
The Justices of the Supreme Court, the Judges of the Court of
Appeals and the Chief Judges of the state's judicial districts
were escorted into the House chamber.
Lieutenant Governor Joy Corning was escorted into the House
chamber.
The committee waited upon Chief Justice Arthur A. McGiverin and
escorted him to the Speaker's station.
President Kramer presented Chief Justice Arthur A. McGiverin who
delivered the following Condition of the Judicial Department
Message:
Madam President, Mr. Speaker, Lieutenant Governor, Members of
the General Assembly, State Officials, Judicial Colleagues and
my fellow Iowans:
It's an honor and a privilege to speak with you each year.  On
behalf of the judicial branch, I want to thank you for this
opportunity to report on the condition of our court system.
I also want to extend a warm welcome to the new members of the
Legislature.  If you are not familiar with the operation of the
judicial branch, I hope you will take some time from your busy
schedules to become acquainted with it.  One of the best ways to
do that is to visit with your local district court officials -
clerks of court, magistrates, judges, juvenile court officers
and others.  And please feel free to drop by our offices here in
the Capitol at anytime to visit.  You're always welcome.
I invite all of you to join me and the other members of the
judiciary, who are with us today, for refreshments and
conversation downstairs in the courtroom following these remarks.
My remarks today will focus on our past successes, our present
challenges, and our high hopes for the future.  I promise that I
will not try to do the Macarena.  I will, however, try to heed
the words of one of my esteemed colleagues who said, "Never
exhaust the topic or the audience." 
We are especially gratified to be able to report a number of
successes we've had this year.  Here are some of the highlights.
By this summer, every courthouse in Iowa will be linked to our
statewide computer network.  The last of our clerk of court
offices that have been waiting in line, dependent on the paper
docket books used for over 150 years, will finally join the
world of automation.  Our computer network will serve as a
foundation for the technological improvements that will be
necessary to carry us into the twenty-first century.
The benefits of our computer system extend beyond the courts. 
For example, we send over 1500 notices each week to the
Department of Transportation so it can initiate license
suspension procedures.  This year, we started sending the
information 

Iowa General Assembly

Index: House Journal (77th General Assembly: Session 1)

© 1997 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

Comments? hjourn@legis.iowa.gov.

Last update: Thu Jan 16 13:10:03 CST 1997
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