Iowa Judicial Branch seeking $202 million budget, more judges to address backlog

DES MOINES — The number of cases filed in Iowa courts fell during the pandemic, but the time it took to dispose of them continued to exceed national standards, significantly, in some instances.

Case filings fell by about 18 percent, or 130,646, from 2019 to 2020 while dispositions dropped 20 percent, or 147,508, according to an annual presentation from the Judicial Branch to the House Justice Systems Appropriations Subcommittee.

“As you might expect, the pandemic has had a significant impact on court business,” State Court Administrator Bob Gast told legislators. Filings rose about 48,000 in 2021, but it would take an additional 85,000 filings to get to the 2019 level.

“We think it will work its way there, but we're not back to the filing level yet,” Gast said.

The pandemic contributed to the time it took to dispose of cases, but Gast said the need for more judges continues to be a larger factor. Based on National Center for State Courts standards and the workload carried by Iowa courts, there should be an additional 24 district court judges, Gast said.

As a result, he said, 23 percent of felony cases remain pending after 12 months. The national standard is 2 percent. The numbers are similar in other categories — 32 percent of indictable misdemeanor criminal offenses, 37 percent of dissolution, paternity and custody cases, 17 percent of probate cases, 23 percent of complex civil cases and 45 percent of regular civil cases. All exceed national standards.

In his budget request, Gast asked for funding for four additional judges. The Judicial Branch also is seeking legislation to allow it to assign judges based on workload while also maintaining judges in all 99 counties.

The Judicial Branch is asking for an appropriation of $202,468,895 for the coming year — a 6.76 percent increase from the current $189,640,252 budget.

Gast pointed out the courts collected more than $144 million in fines and fees — equal to 75 percent of its budget. The amount of uncollected fines and fees has gone up over time from $807 million to $869 million.

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