Courts to close 1 day in May to cut costs

The state's court system will be on furlough May 26 in order to help close a $400,000 budget gap, according to a memo sent to Judicial Branch personnel on Friday.

Clerk of court and other offices will be closed that day — the Friday before Memorial Day — and 1,446 judicial employees will not be paid, court administrator David Boyd wrote. Judges and magistrates will work and not have their pay cut. Boyd wrote that most employees have been receiving regular pay increases, while judges and magistrates have received only one raise in the past eight years.

The shortfall is a result of cuts for the current fiscal year throughout state government that the Legislature is poised to approve and send to Gov. Terry Branstad. The adjustments were drafted after revenue forecasts for the fiscal year that ends July 1 came up lower than expected.

Lawmakers limited the reduction for the courts to $3 million, instead of the $7.7 million proposed by Branstad, and Boyd wrote that staff vacancies — presently 111 staff jobs and 12 judges — accounted for the majority of the reduction.

It is possible that the furlough day will be canceled if additional savings present themselves, Boyd wrote. He also warned that funding levels for the next fiscal year could produce further budget reductions.

State courts employees were furloughed for almost 20 days in 2009 and 2010 because of tight budgets that also resulted in layoffs.