House Journal: Page 75: Wednesday, January 15, 2003
needs. Certainly, we want to be part of the solution, but the quick fixes and band-aids
will not sustain the courts indefinitely. We need to implement lasting solutions, and
we must do so now. Otherwise we will be unable to fulfill our mission to the people.
Searching for Solutions
The Judicial Branch must take full advantage of the benefits of state funding -
system uniformity, economies of scale, and shifting resources to areas where they are
most needed. Along that line, we have embarked on an ambitious effort to examine
every component of our trial court operations to identify best practices, streamline
procedures, develop or update staffing formulas, and achieve uniformity throughout
the state, as much as possible.
The Supreme Court has established four committees to spearhead this effort. The
committees are composed of court employees, judges, and attorneys - the people who
are actually doing the work. There are two separate studies underway involving the
operations of clerk of court offices: one to update the clerks’ staffing formula, and
another to identify management strategies and best business practices aimed at
improving the operation of the clerks’ offices within the current statutory framework
and funding levels. Another committee is studying similar issues concerning the
operation of our juvenile court offices. Shortly, a fourth committee will study the
operation of district court administration. We look forward to receiving their
recommendations for efficiencies and improvements.
Legislative Solutions: Streamlining the Courts
Although the judicial branch is an independent and separate branch of government,
we do not work in a vacuum. By constitutional design, the three branches of
government, in differing roles, contribute to the administration of justice. Our role is to
promptly but carefully decide cases according to law, equally to all people. But it is up
to you, the legislature and the governor, to provide the tools and resources we need to
carry out these enormous responsibilities.
As you can see, we are doing our part to watch expenses and operate within our
budget constraints. With your help, we can do more. We have many sound ideas for
statutory changes that would reduce costs, improve services, and enable us to do more
with our existing resources. These include allowing one clerk of court to manage more
than one office, realigning district court judges through attrition, delaying the filling of
judicial vacancies for budgetary reasons, eliminating outdated statutory duties, and
streamlining a multitude of procedures.
We suggested most of these changes to you last year, but you did not approve them.
Clearly in times such as these we should not cling to the status quo. We urge you to
reconsider these ideas, which have been submitted as pre-filed bills. The benefits are
too great to pass up.
Reorganization of Judicial Districts
One of the statutory changes we seek would establish a process for regularly
reviewing and adjusting the configuration of the judicial districts. The organization of
the districts has not changed for thirty years.
© 2003 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments about this site or page?
hjourn@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.
Last update: Wed Jul 2 14:05:00 CDT 2003
URL: /DOCS/GA/80GA/Session.1/HJournal/00000/00075.html
jhf