Prosecutors, court work to move Linn County sex abuse cases more efficiently through system

CEDAR RAPIDS — Data gathered and compiled by the Linn County Attorney’s Office found that many sex abuse cases have been lingering in the court process over a year — and in some, for over three years pending a plea or trial.

Prosecutors looking at the data found it showed most of these cases kept getting bumped due to defendants changing lawyers, issues with the discovery process, depositions repeatedly not being conducted and — in some cases — for no apparent reason, according to court documents.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks took his concerns to 6th Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson and they discussed the matter and started working on a plan to resolve the backlog, which they shared with The Gazette.

Q: What did you learn when you started looking at the data on the sex abuse cases and how did these cases get so far behind in the system?

Maybanks: I always noticed throughout my career that the sex abuse cases last longer than other cases. It has become egregiously worse over the course of the last few years. Those really stood out because I still carry those on my caseload. I had one or two going on two or three years old.

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There are 80 open cases in 2025. The data showed four started in 2021; four in 2022; 12 in 2023; 39 in 2024; and 19 so far this year.

I knew I wasn’t the only one and I checked with the other prosecutors and they had similar concerns. I knew we had to change the way we were handling these. We would set deadlines or goals to happen in the next few months, but then nothing would happen and it was kicked down the road.

I wanted to be considerate or respectful of the caseloads of opposing counsels — especially public defenders — and didn’t push back, but we also have significant caseloads. It was happening even more egregiously with private or retained attorneys. It was becoming an accepted practice.

Q: Did you approach Judge Anderson at this point?

Maybanks: I wanted to talk to Judge Anderson, but first, I wanted to gather actual data to show him objectively and empirically these cases do drag out significantly longer than other felony cases.

I wanted to look at those cases by calendar year and then track their progress over time to get an average from TI (trial information) to the time an offender was sentenced. We found the data as compelling, if not more than we thought it would be.

Q: Are they in the system longer because they are being bumped on the trial calendar for higher priority cases — like murder or speedy trial demands?

Maybanks: They were lingering in the system. There are multiple potential reasons for that. Some speculation that attorneys and defendants don’t want to deal with them, but in our (prosecutors’) experiences that was happening and we had to push to get these moving.

Hiring experts to testify, which are used in these cases, also can slow down the case. Some defense attorneys believe they have to consult an expert, but I don’t necessarily agree with that. Experts are limited in these and most are out of state.

Defendants also have the right to conduct depositions on all state witnesses, which include children many times. Arranging a depo for a child is a sensitive matter, so defense attorneys want to be as prepared as they can. In some instances, they (defense) would say they wanted to take depos but never schedule them.

These cases also carry significant penalties — mandatory minimum time, sex offender requirements, enhancements for future offenses. That tends to draw out a case.

Q: What were your ideas to get the sex abuse cases moving forward?

Maybanks: More frequent case management conferences that were designed to address the problem of kicking cases down the road three or four months before doing anything on them. More of these would help court stay on top of both sides.

I also proposed that certain discovery rules be implemented, such as staying true to the deadlines.

Q: How quickly do you think a sex abuse case can be resolved?

Maybanks: The overall goal is within nine months of first case management conference. It’s my belief all those things can be accomplished within that time or sooner.

The data showed the average number of days a sex abuse case has been resolved in past years was 510 days in 2020; 645 in 2021; 421 days in 2022; and 350 in 2023.

Q: What has the court done in response to reviewing the data on sex abuse cases?

Anderson: As a district we try to regularly evaluate how cases are handled and what we can do to process all cases more efficiently with our available resources. For example, some time ago we started a process to reevaluate the information regularly provided as part of our case management conferences for all criminal cases in Linn and Johnson counties.

In general, sex abuse cases have historically been more complicated and time-consuming than many other types of criminal cases. We are aware of this and continue to work with other stakeholders to process these cases more effectively.

While we have not established a separate docket for sex abuse cases, for the time being in Linn County we are allocating time within our existing docket specifically for sex abuse cases and will generally be setting these cases in for more frequent case management conferences.

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Q: Have you changed anything or done something to speed up the process in these cases?

Anderson: Recently at the suggestion of a defense attorney and after discussion with the county attorney, we added language to one of our orders that should expedite defendants being able to obtain copies of any Child Protection Center videos as part of discovery. We also have a new case management conference worksheet that was developed after consultation with the Linn and Johnson County Attorney’s Offices and members of the defense bar. We started using those last month. The new worksheets will be signed and filed by the attorneys. The worksheets provide much more information, including about the status of discovery and the reasons for any requested continuance. We believe the new worksheets will help with transparency, consistency, and efficiency.

Q: What other things have impacted the backlog of these cases?

Anderson: When it comes to the speed of resolving cases and continuances, there are many factors that come into play. Many of these factors are case-specific and some are non case-specific. One major factor that has negatively impacted and will continue to negatively impact resolution of criminal cases is the well-documented shortage of defense attorneys. Also, we have had a shortage of court reporters in our district. This has had an impact on our ability to try cases of all types.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com