Judge who led Linn County drug court retires next month after 34-year career

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover is described as showing “empathy and compassion” for defendants and litigants, while also following the law and being firm when necessary.

“She sees defendants as human beings, which is how we should be,” said retired Judge Nancy Baumgartner, one of Hoover’s mentors.

It made her the perfect choice for being the judge to lead the Linn County Drug Treatment Court and it also made her a good defense lawyer, which is how her career began 34 years ago, said Baumgartner, who has known the retiring judge since Hoover was a student at the University of Iowa College of Law.

Another mentor, Senior Judge Patrick Grady, said Hoover has a “unique way” of interacting with people who were representing themselves, usually in divorces. Hoover started taking on many of the pro se cases when she was appointed as a district judge.

“She exercised what I would call compassionate control that helped the litigants feel respected but left no doubt that she was the one who was in charge,” Grady said.

Hoover, 58, is retiring early next month, which is many years before the mandatory retirement age of 72 for Iowa judges. She said she has enjoyed her career but said 20 years is “long enough” on the bench, and she’s ready to step aside for the next generation.

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She began her legal profession working about six months each for Iowa Legal Aid and Linn County Advocates before becoming a public defender in 1991 for 12 years. She was then appointed as an associate district judge for four years and then served for 16 years as a district judge and also the Linn County Drug Treatment Court judge. She will retire Jan. 2.

Unlike many other retiring judges who take senior status and continue to work a limited number of days a year, Hoover can’t because she’s too young. Senior judges must be at least 62.

“It’s been a great honor to serve,” Hoover said during an interview at the courthouse. “The most rewarding part was being the drug court judge. I started in September of 2007. But Judge Valerie Clay is taking it over, so I’m leaving knowing the program is in good hands. I think she will be really good.”

Interviews for applicants for the district judgeship will be Wednesday with the 6th Judicial Nominating Commission. The position pays $158,056 a year.

Inception of drug court

During her time as an associate district judge, there were several defendants whose first case on substance-use related charges wasn’t completed and they were back with a second charge and sometimes a third, Hoover said.

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She realized traditional sentences weren’t helping people change. So she started creating sentences that would allow someone to “buy down jail time” by completing treatment. Hoover used her lunch hour on Fridays to conduct informal status hearings on their cases.

Several people completed the treatment and maintained drug-free lifestyles that allowed them to regain custody of children and employment and improve family relationships. Her informal docket made her a good candidate to become the drug court judge.

“I will always be grateful to (retired) Chief Judge David Remley for the opportunity to be part of the program,” Hoover said. “I enjoyed being part of it — people making meaningful changes in their lives. Inspiring people to be better.”

Colleagues admiration

“She works very hard at not letting the (drug court) clients fail and recognizes that even the small steps of progress need to be recognized and celebrated,” said lawyer Todd Weimer, who was the first defense lawyer on the original drug court team.

Cory Goldensoph, a Cedar Rapids lawyer, said drug court clients could see that Hoover cared for them and many wanted to do well for her because of the relationship she built.

“That really is a remarkable thing,” said Goldensoph, who also is a former drug court team member. “Someone who has had many troubles with the criminal justice system wanting to do well because it would please the judge and not simply because it would keep them out of jail.”

Vanny Hanning, a trial court supervisor, said Hoover is one “those people who talk to you as if you are the most important person that they know. She has a special talent of seeing people right where they are in that moment.”

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks, a former drug court prosecutor, said Hoover provided those at risk with the “tough love” they needed.

“Judge Fae always represented what is good and decent in the practice of law,” Maybanks said.

Ashley Buol, community treatment coordinator of the drug court and a probation officer, said Hoover has been an “inspiration.” She has dedicated her career to mentoring individuals on supervision as they learn to live a life of recovery.

“She has changed so many lives in our small town in Eastern Iowa, and her work reaches much farther than one individual on probation — it changes the dynamic of the entire community.”

Career experiences

Hoover said she has had interesting experiences throughout her career. She had the opportunity as a public defender to represent a man accused of first-degree murder in 1995 and a jury acquitted him — which doesn’t happen often with a murder charge.

She can’t possibly “make up” the things she has seen in court. She recalled one of those cases, involving a dachshund. A fight in a custody case was a couple’s beloved pet, but she had to explain the pooch, in the eyes of the law, was property.

This fight went on for a year and a half when Hoover got involved. She awarded custody based on financial records — who had spent more on daily upkeep of the dachshund.

Hoover said her biggest and most memorable case while on the bench was the cold case of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, who was killed in 1979 in Cedar Rapids. Hoover was the judge in the trial for Jerry Burns, now 70, of Manchester, who eventually was charged in 2018 with first-degree murder.

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Investigators used genetic genealogy to identify the DNA found in the blood on back of Martinko’s black dress. Burns was convicted in 2020 and is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole.

Hoover, at the time of the slaying, was a ninth-grader in Marion. But that unsolved case set the tone for her social activities, as well as for many other teens in the area. Parents were scared when their teens went out at night because the killer hadn’t been caught.

Martinko was killed after going to Westdale Mall Dec. 19, 1979. Her body was found in her parents’ Buick that she had parked in the J.C. Penney parking lot earlier in the evening.

“It shocked the community,” Hoover said. “I didn’t know her, but I had friends in show choir at Linn-Mar who knew Michelle. Every time we would drive into that (J.C. Penney) parking lot, you would think of that. Every Christmas you were reminded of it. I’m surprised my folks ever let me out of the house.”

Hoover said she could have never imagined back then that someday the case would be solved and she would preside over the trial.

“It was such a well-tried case,” Hoover said. “I didn’t think it would ever be solved. The police were tenacious. And we got through the trial right before everything shut down” for the pandemic.’

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