Des Moines, Iowa — The governor’s budget director says he’s been told by a top court official that the computer programming error that has improperly distributed over 53 million dollars in court fees and fines has NOT been fixed. Kraig Paulsen spoke with reporters late Thursday morning.
The Judicial Branch has not issued a statement on the situation. Paulsen says the state fund for road and bridge projects has been shorted by nearly 10 million dollars over the past few years, for example, and some of the money it should be getting is still being sent elsewhere. Paulsen says he’ll discuss all the misdirected funds with the chief justice.
The state court system is an independent branch of state government. However, the legislature and governor approve the budget for the courts. Spending levels for several programs that were changed five years ago were not programmed correctly into the court’s computer system. Paulsen says court officials have given his department spreadsheets explaining the under-funding and where the over-payments have gone.
Paulsen says he believes the age of the computer system for Iowa courts is a factor in this, but he’ll find out more when he meets with the Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice.
