Senate Journal: Page 56: Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Iowans have many reasons to be proud of their top-rate court system. According to
a national survey, Iowa is rated as one of the top five states for creating a fair and
reasonable litigation environment. The survey, which was released early last year,
ranked Iowa high in treatment of class actions, timeliness of summary judgments and
dismissals, judges’ impartiality, and judges’ competence.
The fine quality of Iowa’s judicial system is, in part, a result of your backing. The
General Assembly and the Governor have a history of recognizing the importance of
fair compensation for judges and court staff.
Budget Cuts and Making Ends Meet
Our achievements over the past year, though important, are only part of the whole
picture, however. We must not lose sight of the fact that these are the most difficult
times we’ve ever faced. The cost-cutting measures we put in place last year to help
address the state’s fiscal problems have taken a heavy toll on every facet of court
operations.
Last year, after unprecedented staff reductions, about sixty clerk of court offices cut
back their public hours so that they could focus on processing court files and data entry
without interruption. Many offices are sharing staff with each other to cover for
vacation and sick leave, or sometimes to help with training.
Presently, we have 14 clerks who are managing more than one office. While
sharing managers works better in some offices than in others, we think it is a sound
policy that would help us reallocate some resources. We recommend a statutory
change that would allow us to continue this practice on a permanent basis, while
maintaining a clerks’ office in each county.
Our judges and employees are doing all they can to make ends meet. And many
people are pitching in whenever and however they can. Here are a few more examples.
Court reporters such as Brook Davis, Mark Sturgeon, and Kathy Gray are helping
clerks with jury management duties, updating law libraries, and purging files. Other
court reporters such as Deb Bergman, Jodi Krueger, and Cheryl Smith are performing
case scheduling and court attendant duties.
When budget cuts gutted funding for juvenile services, resourceful juvenile court
officers and others found ways to continue services at minimal cost to the state. For
example, Juvenile Court Officers Annette Peterson and Patty Redmond started a skill-
building program for troubled young people, with the support of local community
organizations. The program offers classes on topics such as teen pregnancy, anger
management, and victim empathy. Annette and Patty work long hours to attend the
life-skills classes, not because they must, but because they care.
In the past, the state’s juvenile restitution fund paid wages to juveniles doing
community service work so that they would have money to pay their victim restitution
obligations. After the funds were cut, a number of juvenile court offices, and state and
local agencies, worked with Peggy Sullivan, our Director of Finance and Personnel, to
keep the restitution program alive through a patchwork of other funding sources.
On-going education and training for judges and staff are an essential investment
for a first-rate court system. Regrettably, for the time being, all of our state-funded
© 2003 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
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