Iowa courts

The Des Moines Police Department appealed after a district court ordered them to disclose individual reports to the public.

Iowa is not among the 34 state, plus the District of Columbia, that have laws restricting SLAPPs, or strategic lawsuits against public participation.

In her Condition of the Judiciary address Wednesday morning, Chief Justice Susan Christensen asked legislators to reduce the number of magistrates across the state, raise state district judge salaries and address the shortage of court-appointed attorneys in Iowa.

State Auditor Rob Sand released an audit report Tuesday that says the Iowa Judicial Branch distributed $27.6 million of court debt collections to the wrong state fund over four years, shorting other state and local funds in the process.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that boils down to local vs. state and federal authority over carbon dioxide pipeline siting and safety. Separately, Summit Carbon Solutions picked up another permit and applied for another — both of which it needs to build a multi-state carbon capture and sequestration project.

The Iowa Judicial Branch said it is fixing computer programming errors that led to more than $26 million in court debt collections being sent to the wrong funds.

House Speaker Pat Grassley and Iowa Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen wrote to State Auditor Rob Sand urging him to investigate the judicial branch’s misallocation of court debt collections dating back to 2021.

In 2023, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to provide an outpatient competency restoration program for people deemed incompetent to stand trial in criminal courts.

A Polk County District Court Judge ordered the state to delay the certification of ballots Tuesday while three Iowa Libertarians running for Congress try to get back on the ballot.

Family members of Kevin Cram shared emotional victim impact statement during Wednesday's sentencing.