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Iowa’s court system will have to turn to employee furloughs to meet the expectations of the budget cuts, and the result will be gaps in services, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus told lawmakers this morning in her Condition of the Judiciary address.
The Iowa Supreme Court building in Des Moines.
Ternus said layoffs are not an option, as “further staff reduction through layoffs would cripple our ability to fulfill our constitutional responsibilities.” But even without layoffs, furloughs will cause things like forwarding child support payments to parents, sending copies of orders and notices of hearings to litigants and law enforcement agencies, and updating criminal case history and fine payment data to suffer.
“Cases, in particular civil cases, will have to wait,” she said. “Some businesses that depend on court records will experience delays. There is simply no way around these problems.”
The chief justice urged lawmakers in their quest for short-term budget fixes not to lose sight of the long-term implications of their decisions.
“Government cannot do everything, and in times like these it cannot afford to do everything,” she said. “But bear these simple truths in mind: there are some things that only government can do, and these things it must do well. Administering justice under the law equally to all people is a function that only government can fulfill.”
One of the most serious challenges facing Iowa’s court system, Ternus said, is meeting the civil legal needs of people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer to represent them.
“If we neglect this fundamental obligation to the people, we break trust with them, and ultimately, lose their confidence,” she said. “And for government, public trust and confidence is everything. “
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