Annex will increase safety, accessibility

I am writing to ask the residents of Johnson County to approve the bond referendum for the Johnson County Courthouse annex. The Board of Supervisors has listened to the voters and proposed a modest and practical project that meets the needs of our court system over the next decades and preserves the historic beauty of our current facility. The proposal also addresses the goals of increased safety and accessibility for all citizens.

The need for this annex is well-established. Our caseloads continue to grow in what is now the fourth most populous county in Iowa. Black Hawk County, a county with a comparable population to Johnson County, has 14 courtrooms. Johnson County has six. A new magistrate position was transferred to Johnson County within the last year to address the growing case load. Sadly, we have not had the space in the courthouse to fully use that magistrate. Our most recently appointed resident Johnson County judge does not even have an office of his own. We have difficulty finding court space for our drug treatment courts and other incarceration diversion programs that we need to reduce reliance on jail as a punishment for substance-abuse related crimes.

The challenges we hope to address with by the proposed expansion will not go away if it is not approved. They will just become more expensive to taxpayers and result in more delays for litigants. I ask you to support the Johnson County Courthouse expansion proposal.

Patrick R. Grady

Chief Judge

Sixth Judicial District