Friday was the worst work day Marilyn Huff can remember in her 24 years as an Iowa county clerk of court. She had to tell one of four women who run the Jackson County Clerk of Court office that her job was gone as a result of Iowa judicial branch budget cuts.
"There were a lot of tears, including my own," said Huff, who serves as clerk of court for both Clinton and Jackson counties, which combined workload due to previous budget reductions.
"In the 1990s, I had to let people go due to budget cuts, but the economy wasn't so bad then. There's nothing out there."
That one layoff was echoed 163 times across the state Thursday and Friday, as state judicial branch employees were let go or had their hours reduced. Another 100 vacant positions will not be filled to reduce the judicial branch's operating budget by $11.4 million, or 7.1 percent.
After 25 years of serving her county, a Clayton County judicial clerk had her hours reduced to two days per week, eliminating all of her benefits.
"We've been together for two decades. It was so hard to tell her the news," said Clerk
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In Delaware County's clerk of court office, a judicial clerk is scheduled to retire in the near future. That position also has been cut, leaving Clerk of Court Linny Emrich with one part-time and two full-time workers to keep the office running.
While the layoffs add up to only one or two positions in each county, their impact will be severe, especially in rural counties with small court offices.
"Our work will back up even more and it will be difficult for us to schedule vacations or doctor's appointments," Johnson said.
Emrich predicted, "Coupled with the new furlough days, it will be difficult for us to get our work done. There will be a lot of delays in court services in every area."
The clerk of courts office in Dubuque County was spared from the layoffs, Clerk Clay Gavin said. For the past few months, there were so many unfilled positions in the office that the county didn't make the mark for layoffs, Gavin said.
"It's good news in the fact that I didn't have to deliver any notices," he said. "But we're still at the same playing field as everyone else. We have severely reduced personnel."
In addition, in district court administration, one part-time court attendant and a part-time judicial assistant were laid off.
Overall, in the 1st Judicial District, with 11 counties in northeast Iowa, 31 positions were affected, including 11 layoffs, while in the 7th Judicial District, with five east central counties, 23 positions were affected, and 11 people were laid off.
Earlier in the week, the Iowa Supreme Court announced 10 unpaid furlough days (in the next seven months) for all judicial branch employees which will force the state's court system to close on those days as well.
TH staff writer Courtney Blanchard contributed to this story
