The state Supreme Court has approved the 2018 operating budget for the state court system that will be the same as it was last year. The Iowa Legislature approved nearly 176 million dollars for the court system budget. There was a budget cut in the 2017 budget, so the court will operate this year with three-million-dollars less than the 2016 budget. The court will continue the statewide hiring freeze that state court administrator David Boyd says left them with 150 vacant positions. Boyd says the cuts in staff will means work gets processed slower and there are fewer judges to decide cases.

“Iowans will not receive the same type of timely response from the judicial branch and the delivery of timely services that it has in the past,” according to Boyd. There are also cuts to training and education programs, as well as office supplies, furniture and non-I-T equipment. All court personel were required to take a day of unpaid leave on May 26th to make up for state budget cuts. The day off for the 14-hundred-46 employees was project to save 364-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa)