DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge says Iowa must pay more than $4.9 million in fees to attorneys who sued over treatment of juvenile boys at the Eldora Boys State Training School. Former students at the school and advocacy groups sued the state in 2017, contending the center used used inhumane methods to control the boys.” Judge Stephanie Rose ruled last year that the methods were “torture” and ordered the center to change.

The plaintiffs did not seek any monetary damages. The state then argued that the plaintiffs’ attorneys fees were inflated. Rose ruled this week that attorneys were due all but $10,000 they had sought.

(Radio Iowa) – The man who has been state budget director for the past decade is retiring after a 38 year career in state government. Dave Roederer was part of former Governor Terry Branstad’s staff in the last century before Branstad’s return in 2011, when Roederer was named director of the Department of Management. Roederer is part of the three-member panel that makes state revenue forecasts. You’ve likely heard his commentary on the radio, like this prediction last March about the pandemic’s economic impact.

Roederer has served in a variety of state government roles. In 2008, he was John McCain’s Iowa campaign chairman.

Roederer’s last day on the job is January 31st.

(Radio Iowa) – The Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court has been elected by her colleagues to another term. Chief Justice Susan Christensen of Harlan was selected to continue in the role that she was first elected to following the retirement of Acting Chief Justice David Wiggins in February 2020. Wiggens became acting chief justice following the death of Chief Justice Mark Cady in November of 2019.

The justices take a vote on the chief justice during their first meeting in each odd-numbered year. Christensen released a statement saying, “After a very challenging first 10 months, I am honored to continue to serve as Chief Justice of Iowa’s court system.”

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A white man who deliberately sped his car through a crowd of racial injustice protesters in Iowa City, striking many, will avoid prison and have the incident erased from his record if he stays out of trouble for three years.

This undated photo provided by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa City, Iowa, shows Michael Stepanek after his arrest on Aug. 25, 2020. Stepanek will avoid prison and could have the case dismissed under a plea agreement resolving charges related to his decision to intentionally drive through a crowd of racial injustice protesters in Iowa City, striking several. (Johnson County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

A judge has granted a deferred judgment for 45-year-old Michael Ray Stepanek, who told police he drove his Toyota Camry through the crowd in August because protesters needed “an attitude adjustment.” The sentence means Stepanek will have a felony charge of willful injury resulting in bodily injury dismissed and expunged if he doesn’t commit a crime during a three-year term of probation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa trash collection official has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $1.6 million. Federal prosecutors in Des Moines say Jeffrey Dworek, of Urbandale, was sentenced Friday to 57 months in prison after pleading guilty last August to one count of federal mail fraud. Dworek had been the director of operations for Metro Waste Authority from 1996 until he resigned in 2017.

He was arrested and indicted in 2019. Prosecutors say he set up a shell company purported to provide services to Metro Waste Authority, then paid out company funds for his own use between 2012 and 2017. He also took kickbacks from various vendors.