The Iowa Judicial Branch oversees the collection and distribution of court debt, a task mandated by the Iowa Code. Annually, it gathers over $140 million in court debt, distributing these funds to various recipients including the state general fund, victims, cities, counties, sheriff departments, and multiple other state entities.
Significant changes were made by the legislature in 2020 and 2021 regarding how this debt is managed. These modifications introduced complexity into the system with a distribution rubric that varies depending on crime type, collecting entity, and statutory fees. Consequently, the judicial branch has had to continually update its case management system to align with legislative changes.
However, programming errors following these legislative updates led to misdistribution of funds to incorrect government entities or funds. The issue lay not in collection but in how the money was distributed.
Upon discovering potential errors within its case management system's programming, the judicial branch engaged the National Center for State Courts to assess Iowa’s court debt distribution framework and suggest improvements. This led to an extensive review of relevant Iowa Code sections concerning court debt handling.
The investigation revealed errors resulting from both recent statutory overhauls and pre-existing issues within the system's programming. Currently, efforts are underway by IT staff and legal teams within the judicial branch to rectify these programming errors through rigorous testing to ensure compliance with Iowa Code requirements.
"The judicial branch is committed to correcting these issues," affirmed Steve Davis, Communications Director for the Iowa Judicial Branch. "It is working with all stakeholders to fix its case management system and remedy previous misdistributions."