LEE COUNTY – The Lee County Supervisors sent a message to the Iowa Legislature Monday morning. That message was we don’t need two courthouses anymore.
The county is the only county in the state with two legally-obligated county seats. Part of the Iowa code still exists that says Lee County must operate court services in both Fort Madison and Keokuk.
The board approved a resolution Monday that asked Iowa State Legislators to abolish the Special Law of 1848 that required the county to hold district court in both cities.
Supervisors indicated that with the passage of House File 718, the county is looking for ways to decrease expenditures and have determined that eliminating the expenses connected to operating two courthouses would help to lower the county’s general tax levy imposed on citizens.
Supervisors said they should be able to exercise the county’s home-rule authority and not be bound by a law that only affects Lee County.
A bill was proposed by the legislature last year, but it was pulled before a full vote and county officials are hoping to press legislatures to take up, and vote on, abolishing the law this session.
“This is a home-rule question, if you ask me. When you get down to it, this is us going to them and saying give us the power to make the decision because right now we don’t have the power to make the decision even though we're the local elected officials,” said Supervisor Garry Seyb.
Supervisor Ron Fedler said the letter just asks the legislators to abolish the law.
Lee County resident Al Nelson asked the board if that wasn’t what the county voted on when they voted down combining services in Montrose.
“That’s how I saw that,” he said. “And I’m quite sure the folks who voted against the single courthouse saw it as that. I had as many phone calls from north Lee County asking me to put signs in my yard as I had from south Lee County, to vote no.”
Supervisor Tom Schulz said people in the county were upset because they would have to drive to Montrose.
But Nelson said this was another effort to close the south Lee County Courthouse. Nelson said he uses the courthouse for county services. Schulz told him, as did Seyb, that the county isn’t going to close the south Lee County Courthouse because the north Lee County Courthouse isn’t big enough to satisfy judicial requirements that mandate at least four courtrooms.
“That has nothing to do with court services. That’s a county function and we’re not talking about any of that.”
“Well, we know that’s what you'rr planning on,” Nelson replied. “You can’t convince anybody in south Lee that’s not what you’re trying to do.”
Schulz said the county was moving the court services to the south Lee courthouse.
“We want to close Fort Madison, for God’s sake,” Schulz replied. “Fort Madison is too small. We can’t use it. And that’s been in the paper how many times now?”
Seyb said he wanted to be as transparent as possible.
“Right now we have to save money. We have to be down to $3.50 by 2029 and we’re at $5.85 right now. So, for cost savings measures, and in my personal belief a common sense measure, to (not) have two courthouses right now, we’ll save off the top at least $100,000 per year every year by eliminating one courthouse,” he said.
“If you look at where the court system will fit, it will not fit in Fort Madison. We’re not looking at building anything. We’re trying to save money and consolidate our effort in how we perform our job.”
He said one court would mean all of the county’s lawyers in the courthouse in Keokuk and have all court services there. That eliminates the need for not only the Fort Madison courthouse, but also the Lee County Attorney’s office across the street.
Seyb said there is also potential savings in deputies costs for courthouse security.
“This passion people have around the courthouse, I can understand it possibly from a historic perspective, but I cannot understand it from any other aspect,” he said.
“It’s going to be cheaper, more economic… it’s one spot. We’re the only county out of 99 in Iowa that has two. It’s time to bury the hatchet with this north and south Lee County.”
The resolution passed 5-0.
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