House Journal: Page 78: Wednesday, January 13, 1999

principled judges, without regard to partisan political pressures.  Because I am 

among the twenty percent he did not appoint, it is appropriate for me to say this.
Governor Branstad, we thank you and wish you well.
After my address, we hope all of you will join us for coffee and conversation 
downstairs in the courtroom.  During the reception, I will present our Child Advocate 
of the Year Award.  This award is given to recognize an individual who has made an 
extraordinary personal commitment to helping Iowa's troubled children.
The focus of my address will be about the primary work of the courts deciding cases.  
However, I would be remiss if I did not mention a few of the many activities we have 
underway to help shape the future of the court system. 
Last session, we agreed to move judicial branch operations into a new building 
which will house both appellate courts and our administrative offices.  If everything 
goes as planned, we will move into the new judicial building in the summer of 2002.
We look forward to the challenge of creating a building that will serve as a 
monument to justice.  We envision a building which conveys a sense of timelessness 
and dignity; a building equipped with state-of-the-art communications technology; and 
a building which reflects Iowans' respect for the rule of law.  Though no building could 
ever rival the splendor of our majestic Capitol, we hope that the new judicial branch 
building will, like the Capitol, be a source of lasting pride for all Iowans.
Shaping the ideal judicial branch for the year 2020 was the basic premise of our 
Commission on Planning for the 21st Century.  You will remember that the 
commission, which was composed of over seventy Iowans from diverse backgrounds, 
conducted the first comprehensive, long-range study of the Iowa court system.  Much 
has been said about the careful report of the commission since it was submitted to our 
court.  Rather than attempt to summarize the report, I will briefly discuss some of the 
steps we are taking to achieve the commission's vision of the ideal court system for the 
21st Century and beyond.
Recognizing that we could not simultaneously respond to all 89 of the commission's 
recommendations, we selected twelve priorities to address during the next two years.  
You will find a summary of those twelve priorities attached to my remarks. I want to 
briefly mention five of them.
The first priority concerns safety.  Of all public institutions, the courthouse should 
be a safe haven.  We are taking steps to ensure the safety of all court participants - not 
just court personnel but all people who come to court.
Another priority involves public service.  The courts are here to serve the people - 
not the system.  With that in mind, we are placing more emphasis on customer service 
to make our courts more user-friendly.
A third priority is information.  Information is the key to effective decision-making.  
It is key, not only for deciding cases, but also for management and public policy 
decisions.  We are expanding our statistical reports to cover a broad spectrum of 
detailed information about cases - for your benefit as well as for our own.
Another priority involves education.  The vitality of the judicial branch depends 
upon the confidence and understanding of the public.  We are establishing a 

© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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