Chief Justice Christensen meets regularly with the Judicial Council, made up of the chief judge of the court of appeals, eight district chief judges, and eight district court administrators. The Iowa Code (602.120) requires that a “judicial council is established, consisting of the chief judges of the judicial districts, the chief judge of the court of appeals, and the chief justice who shall be the chairperson. The council shall convene no less than twice each year at times and places as ordered by the chief justice. The council shall advise the supreme court with respect to the supervision and administration of the judicial branch.”
The supervision and administration of the judicial branch is an extensive charge and includes everything from staffing and budget planning to implementation of new laws, policies, or rules. Examples of current discussions include reviewing new legislation that affects the court, working within the constraints of the current budget, and implementation of electronic search warrants and distributive work processing.
In the past, the judicial council provided vital input during the implementation of EDMS. Electronic filing was gradually introduced county by county over several years and the Judicial Branch Information Technology Director regularly updated the judicial council on the process and advised the council on what was working and what was creating difficulties from around the state.
The Judicial Council is also required, by statute (602.6113), to ensure that district judges are allocated throughout the state fairly based on the workloads of each district. If there is a disparity in the workload to judge ratio between two judicial districts and a there is a judicial vacancy, the majority of judicial council members can agree to let the chief justice “apportion the vacant office from the judicial election district where the vacancy occurs to another judicial election district based upon the substantial disparity finding.”
Additionally, pursuant to Iowa Code 804.21(50(a), "the judicial council shall promulgate rules and bond levels to be contained within a bond schedule for the release of an arrested person." Pursuant to that code section, Judicial Council recently updated the uniform bond schedule.
