Local leaders, lawmakers lament cuts; court says options limited

DES MOINES - Legislators and Eastern Iowa officials who brought their concerns about the escalating cost of justice in rural Iowa to the Capitol Monday may get some answers as soon as Tuesday.

"We are effectively denying citizens timely access to the court system," Muscatine County Supervisor Esther Dean said at a Statehouse news conference called by a bipartisan caucus of legislators. Dean and other local leaders asked for changes to Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus' travel restrictions on judges as part of the courts' response to Gov. Chet Culver's budget cuts.

There is no resident judge in Muscatine County so a judge is available there only 12 days a month, said Dean, an attorney. Going to Scott County for trials and other judicial business "creates a real hardship on our clients."

The court recognizes that and will be meeting Tuesday to address those hardships, according to David Boyd, state court administrator. Among the solutions to be considered, he said, are voluntary furloughs of judges and reducing mileage reimbursement in order to increase the miles judges can travel.

He rejected suggestions judges could waive their travel costs or those costs could be paid by county bar associations or county supervisors. If parties who have business before the court pay those bills it might create the appearance of an ethical conflict, Boyd said.

"In Iowa, justice is not for sale," Boyd said, but conceded that under current budget restrictions it costs rural Iowans more than it costs their urban neighbors. The travel restrictions have a "significant and probably disproportionate impact on rural Iowa," he said.

That impact will be felt by parties in civil court actions ranging from lawsuits to divorces, several attorneys said. Although criminal matters are a priority, there are additional costs for cities and counties when defendants must be transported to neighboring counties for court appearances, said Tipton Police Chief Roger Hakeman.

Referring to the 120-mile round trip from Tipton in Cedar County to the courthouse in Davenport, Hakeman called it "nothing short of as train wreck."

His officers, who previously were on duty right up until making an appearance at the courthouse across the street from the police station, now will be out of town for more than four hours each time they have to appear in court. Those hours will have to be covered by other officers, probably leading to higher overtime costs for the city, Hakeman said.

Lawmakers conceded the travel restrictions don't affect the majority of Iowans on a daily basis

"But when you grandfather dies or your grandmother dies and you need a probate court hearing to move something forward, you

certainly think about it," Rep. Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine, said. "When you need to get out of an abusive relationship and need protective orders issued, you think about it that day."

There may be some relief for rural Iowans, Boyd said in the fiscal year beginning July 1. The impact of budget cuts will be spread out over the full budget fiscal 2010 budget year. The cuts this year came with just five months left, leaving the courts with limited options.

"I doubt seriously the current travel restrictions will be as harsh when we have a full fiscal year to deal with," he said.

There's an economic impact on small town businesses if courthouses are closed even temporarily, Daisy Wingert of Daisy's on the Square in Tipton said. The courthouse across the street from her "is like a magnet bringing people into our community," she said. "We have a lot to lose if we lose our courthouse."

"The viability of the courthouse is the viability of the community," Rep. Jeff Kauffman, R-Wilton, added. "It's that simple in rural Iowa."