News
Release
November
10, 2009
Contact: Steve
Davis, Court Communications Officer, (515)725-8058
State
Budget Problems Prompt Unpaid Leave for Judges and Court Staff, and Temporary
Court Closures
Des
Moines, November 10, 2009—
In light of the state's serious
revenue shortfall, the Iowa
Supreme Court ordered ten days of unpaid leave for all judges, magistrates,
and court staff from December 4, 2009 to June 18, 2010. In addition, the
court ordered all court offices closed on the days designated for unpaid
leave. The mandatory unpaid leave will reduce judicial branch operating
expenses by $4.1 million this fiscal year. It is one of many actions the
court has already taken or will take to substantially reduce judicial branch
operating expenses this fiscal year. The court will announce additional
cost-cutting measures later this week.
Pursuant
to the court's order, all judicial officers and court staff will take unpaid
leave and all court offices will close on the following days:
· Friday, December 4
· Thursday, December 24
· Thursday, December 31
· Friday, January 15
· Monday, February 15
· Friday, March 12
· Friday, March 26
· Friday, April 2
· Friday, May 28
· Friday, June 18
The
chief judges of the judicial districts may assign judges and magistrates to be
available during closure days to cover emergency matters.
"We
designed the court closure schedule to minimize the impact of closures on the
public as much as possible," said State Court
Administrator David Boyd. "The days selected for court closures are
typically the least busy day of the week in most courthouses. In addition,
our experience from two previous times of unpaid leave shows that this
arrangement, although not perfect, works reasonably well in most counties.
Requiring everyone take unpaid leave at the same time is easier to implement
within the constraints of our collective bargaining contracts and is a better
arrangement for small clerk of court offices that have only two
employees."
"Regrettably,
the closures will disrupt and reduce public access to the courts," Boyd
continued. "There will be gaps in services and more delays and backlogs
will grow. But under the circumstances these problems are
unavoidable. The state's budget crisis demands drastic action.
"The
impact of these temporary disruptions on litigants is somewhat mitigated
because under Iowa law, if a deadline for commencing a court action, filing a
motion or pleading, or perfecting an appeal falls on a day the office of the
clerk of district court is closed by order of the supreme court, the deadline
shall be extended to the next day the office is open," Boyd
continued. "However, previously scheduled hearings and motion days that
fall on days offices are closed will need to be rescheduled.
"This
action is particularly painful because we already had five days of unpaid leave
and court closures earlier this year to cope with a mid-year cut," Boyd said.
In
March, the legislature cut the appropriation to the judicial branch FY 09
budget by $3.8 million, resulting in five court closure days, reductions in
travel and other cuts. In June, the supreme court approved a fiscal year 2010
budget that reduced operating expenses by another $5.4 million. The bulk of
that reduction, nearly $4.8 million, came in the form of a statewide workforce
reduction. The latest round of budget cuts follows the October 7
announcement by the Revenue Estimating Conference that state revenues for the
2010 budget year are running 7.1% short of previous estimates. The
legislature relied on the previous estimate for setting its appropriations for
the current fiscal year, including the appropriation to the judicial
branch.
# # #
2009
Iowa Supreme Court
1111 East Court Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-281-3952
