Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — Republicans on the Iowa House Government Oversight Committee have issued a report blasting the court system for concealing its misdirection of $25 million worth of court fees and fines.
The report also criticizes State Auditor Rob Sand for failing to investigate the problem.
Representative Charley Thomson, a Republican from Charles City who wrote the report, says court officials failed to fix a computer glitch that distributed the money incorrectly.
The report recommends hiring a private firm to take over distributing court debt to more than a dozen entities, including cities, sheriffs’ departments, and victim service organizations.
Thomson says the court system has proven it cannot handle the job.
Thomson says the State Auditor’s Office was notified about the court system errors in the fall of 2022 and failed to take action.
The report recommends hiring a private auditing firm to trace every dollar of court fees and fines over the three year period to identity when the errors started and when they were fixed.
Thomson, who is chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee, says he’s not sure the problem has been completely solved.
The six Republicans on the House Oversight Committee approved Thomson’s report. The four Democrats on the panel voted against it, citing a concern about hiring a private company to start handling court fees and fines.
Neither the court system nor Sand’s office have commented on the report.
Iowa Supreme Court Building, Des Moines– KIWA Staff Photo
