The Iowa Judicial Branch announced it will lay off 105 employees, cut 100 vacant staff positions and reduce the hours of 58 of its employees in an attempt to help address the state's severe financial problems this fiscal year.

In District 2, which includes Webster and surrounding counties, seven people will be laid off, eight positions will be eliminated, and seven people will retire, according to information from the Judicial Branch.

Steve Davis, court communications officer, told The Messenger that they have not released information pertaining to specific positions in specific courthouses.

All told, the cuts announced Thursday amount to a 9.3 percent reduction in the judicial branch work force. The new cuts are in addition to the 10 days of court closures and unpaid leave for all judges, magistrates and court employees announced earlier this week. Total savings are projected to be $11.4 million, or 7.1 percent of the judicial branch's expenses.

As a separate branch of government, the judicial branch is not subject to the governor's 10 percent across-the-board cut that hit state organizations last month.

"The Court thoroughly examined and earnestly considered the actions we would need to take to meet a 10 percent cut," said Chief Justice Marsha Ternus in a press release. "At 10 percent, the cost in terms of public service would be enormous, decimating our work force and crippling our ability to resolve critical cases and provide essential services. As it is, a 7.1 percent cut requires draconian measures that will result in long delays, gaps in service and reduced public access to the courts."

Ternus said they have done what they can to reasonably reduce expenses.

"We have people - employees and judges who are the life blood of the court system - directly providing the court services Iowans need. Even with a 7.1 percent cut, the judicial branch will lay off more employees, cut more jobs and require more unpaid leave than most state offices and departments, including the regents."

The Iowa Judicial Branch endured two previous rounds of budget cuts this year.

"This action is particularly painful because we already had five days of unpaid leave and court closures earlier this year to cope with a mid-year cut," State Court Administrator David Boyd said in an earlier statement.

Ternus stressed the impact the budget cuts will have on Iowans - especially those who could be most vulnerable.

"We are particularly concerned about the impact our cuts will have on our work with troubled juveniles and abused and neglected children," Ternus said. "Nonetheless, we will strive to give priority to these cases within the limits of our reduced resources."

Contact Angela Burch at (515) 573-2141 or aburch@messengernews.net