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.
Each conference is an opportunity to visit with old friends, meet new court employees, and learn more about the great programs and initiatives from around our state. The gatherings also reaffirm my belief that Iowa has the finest judges and court employees of any state in the country. Each conference inspires me as I return to Fort Dodge and my daily responsibilities.
Summer also frames the supreme court’s administrative term. A time to reflect on our vision for the branch, review some of our rules and programs, and discuss possible new initiatives. We are assisted in our work by dozens of committees devoted to improve the administration of justice in Iowa. In our journey to become the best court system in the country, we have benefited from the knowledge and experience of so many judicial branch employees and community members who serve on these committees.
All of the supreme court advisory committees and task forces include knowledgeable staff and community members from around the state. The committees and commissions advise the court on a wide range of topics, including rules of procedure, technology, planning, child support guidelines, and most aspects of attorney regulation. Their guidance is essential in charting the future of our court system.
This summer, during our administrative term, we will review the very successful business court to find even more ways this popular program can be enhanced. I also look forward to reviewing the reports from two relatively new committees, The Access to Justice Committee chaired by Justice Brent Appel with Des Moines attorney Anjie Shutt as vice chair is looking for ways to eliminate longstanding and entrenched barriers to the access to justice in civil cases for many Iowans. The supreme court will also hear from the Advisory Committee on Jury Selection chaired by Justice David Wiggins. The jury selection committee was asked to find ways to insure the makeup of jury pools and jurors represent a fair cross section of the community. The process of selecting juries has not changed significantly in more than 30 years, so the report will serve to help advance the process of justice in our state.
We will also hear from the Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedures Review Task Force chaired by Justice Edward Mansfield, the Family Law Case Processing Reform Task Force chaired by Justice Thomas Waterman, and the Iowa Guardianship and Conservatorship Reform Task Force chaired by Justice Bruce Zager. The summer administrative term should be informative and instructive and will help make us better. At the same time, I hope the summer will be equally rewarding for everyone in the judicial branch. Thank you for everything you do.