Summer is a time of baseball, cookouts, and fresh Iowa vegetables. It is also a time when many of us gather together for annual conferences. The juvenile court officers met in May. Judges, court reporters, and magistrates met in June, and clerks and court administrators will meet in September. I look forward to attending all of the gatherings.
On June 1, 2018, Governor Reynolds signed into law the Judicial Branch Appropriations Bill (HF 2495). For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2018, the legislature appropriated and the governor approved $177,574,797. This amount is $3.5 million more than the FY 18 judicial branch appropriation after the $1.6 million de-appropriation. Put another way, the FY 19 judicial branch’s operating budget is $1.9 million more than the original FY 18 appropriation.
It is great to be back in Iowa where I started my career in court administration 25 years ago. I applied for the State Court Administrator position because I consider the Iowa Judicial Branch one of the best court systems in the nation. Now that I have been in the position for 10 months, I am excited for the opportunity to execute a vision where the Iowa Judicial Branch is known nationally as the leader in creativity, innovation, and sound management practices.
This September, Drake University will celebrate 150th anniversary of the Iowa Supreme Court case Clark v. Board of Directors.
The Iowa Accountability Program (IAP) Restitution Project is improving victim restitution repayment processes based on a recommendation from a University of Iowa School of Social Work research project.
The citizens of Woodbury County celebrated the 100th anniversary of their courthouse in May.
The downloadable document is a summary of bills the 87th Iowa General Assembly approved that directly affect the work of the courts or may otherwise be of interest to judges and court personnel. This summary does not provide references to every section of every bill nor is it a complete statement of each and every bill.