House Journal: Page 45: Wednesday, January 14, 1998

justice.  Last fall, two of our districts asked that we include
more judges in our budget request.  We did not.  After a careful
evaluation of our overall needs, we decided that support staff
for our judges is a more critical need in our district or trial
courts this year.  That support is needed in the offices of our
clerks of district court and juvenile court services.  We also
need more law clerks to help our judges with research and
rulings.  This year we will evaluate, with the help of our
planning office, our need for judges.  We will report our
findings to you next year.   
We obviously must do what we can to attract and retain good
judges.  We appreciate your strong support of judicial
compensation and retirement requests over the years and hope
that we can continue to count on your support this year.
Now, I'd like to again switch gears and report on the progress
that we've made with the help of technology.  We're proud of our
statewide computer network which was completed last September.  
More than thirty clerk of district court offices were
computerized last year alone.   This achievement represents the
culmination of more than ten years of planning and hard work by
many people.  I want to thank and commend you for your support
over the years.
It wasn't easy changing from a paper-based record keeping system
to a computer-based system.  There were many times in the early
years of the program when I thought  we might have a revolt on
our hands.  In fact, there were times when I thought I might
lead the revolt!  But we made it through the tough times, and
today we are one of few court systems in the country with a
statewide computer network. 
The completion of our statewide computer network does not mean
that our work is finished.  The system must be updated,
maintained, supported, and enhanced if we are to retain it and
realize its full potential. 
Two of the promising technological innovations now within our
grasp deserve special mention.
IowAccess.  Think of  accessing court records from the
convenience of one's home or office.  Or what about specialized
reports in a format generated to fit a customer's specific
needs?  Automation adds value to court information.  Justice
Marsha Ternus of our court has been working with the IowAccess
Project to explore the idea of marketing these value added
services.  It could turn into a revenue producing venture for
the state.  
We're excited about an interface with the DOT which will
completely automate the processing of criminal citations from
start to finish.  When issuing a citation, law enforcement
officers armed with computers and scanners, will enter
information about the citation into their computer systems.  At
the end of the officer's shift, the information will be sent
electronically to the appropriate clerk of district court
office. The time consuming job of shuffling mountains of paper
citations will be a thing of the past. 
It's easy to be overly enthralled by technology.  We're
captivated by all the bells and whistles that promise to improve
our productivity and public service.  While it's true that
technology is dramatically changing the way the Judicial Branch
does business, we must remember that it is just a tool to help
us perform our basic function of resolving disputes in a
dispassionate, well-reasoned manner.  It frees judges to perform
their function in our independent branch of government.  
I was originally going to end my remarks here but I cannot cover
the state of the judiciary today without talking about judicial
independence.  The word 

© 1998 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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