(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Larson Christensen is asking the Iowa legislature to approve an 11-point-six percent increase in the court system’s budget. Christensen delivered the annual “Condition of the Judiciary” speech this (Wednesday) morning in the Iowa House. She did not make a budget pitch, but instead focused on court operations and promised a review of the juvenile court system will be done in November.

Christensen wore a face covering in the House until she was recognized to speak and put it back when she finished and left the room. Christensen says Covid had an abrupt and brutal impact on the judiciary.

Christensen says the covid storm continues to rage. The chief justice issued 30 orders since the beginning of the pandemic, but replaced those with one order in December that keeps some changes in place.

Christensen says some of the changes might never have been envisioned if the courts hadn’t been forced to innovate during the pandemic. Republican Representative Gary Worthan of Storm Lake is chairman of the subcommittee that drafts the court system’s budget. Worthan says there are a lot of good things happening in the courts.

At least 90 percent of the court system’s budget is for salaries and Worthan says it’s a House G-O-P priority to maintain staffing levels and courtroom hours, especially in the courthouses in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.

Worthan says he believes it’s important to add another four district court judges to handle the volume of cases in the system.