Des Moines, September 3, 2013 – Clerk of court offices throughout Iowa are now open to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Clerks of court work with judges, judicial magistrates, and court employees to manage and maintain all court records. In addition, clerks accept and process fines, fees, and court costs owed to the state, and child support checks and civil judgments owed to litigants. Clerks also dispose of uncontested scheduled violations, such as speeding citations, and notify state and local government agencies, including law enforcement agencies, of court orders. Nearly all court cases in Iowa begin with a filing with a clerk of court.
"It was very important to the justices of the supreme court, the governor, and to members of the legislature that all of Iowa's clerks of court offices are open to the public full time," State Court Administrator David Boyd said. "Clerks help thousands of Iowans every day but due to staff shortages our clerk offices have been closed to the public every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon since the Fall of 2009. With the budget approved by the legislature and signed by the governor in June, the supreme court authorized more than 40 additional positions for the state's clerk of court offices so that all the offices will be open to the public full time."
In northwest Iowa, 29 offices opened full time July 15, 2013, while the remaining clerk offices and the clerk of appellate courts office opened full time on September 3, 2013. The clerk of appellate courts office and some district court clerk's offices may be closed over the lunch hour in some smaller counties and some offices may temporarily close in order to cover special circumstances such as staff training or unexpected staff shortages. The complete schedule is posted on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at http://www.iowacourts.gov/Administration/Budget/Clerk_of_Court_HoursClosures/
The $167.7 Iowa Judicial Branch million budget, a 3.5% increase over the previous fiscal year's budget, includes an additional 13 juvenile court officers and 13 court reporter positions. The budget also includes four new information technology positions to help with the implementation of electronic filing in the state.
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