Hunter
01/16/26
The Chief Supreme Court Justice of Iowa called for a reform of the state’s court system in her annual Condition of the Judiciary Wednesday.
Susan Christiansen told lawmakers, “The sky is falling on judicial pay for Iowa’s judges.”
CBS 2 reports Christensen raised concerns over the decreasing number of applicants for judge openings. She said uncompetitive salaries are to blame and is asking lawmakers for a roughly 4% increase in wages. She added the low pay rates also make it harder to find court appointed attorneys, citing a case in Davenport that was dismissed after the suspect hadn’t had an attorney appointed for them for two and a half months.
Christiansen also is pushing to make cuts to the magistrate system; she said they could cut about 60 of the 206 magistrates and save $2.5 million.