Special Potluck Guest Today: Chief Justice Susan Larson Christensen
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In her 2026 Condition of the Judiciary address to the Iowa Legislature, Chief Justice Susan Larson Christensen outlined key challenges facing Iowa’s court system and urged lawmakers to act on them. She emphasized the need for higher judicial salaries to recruit and retain qualified judges, proposing a roughly 4.2–4.3 % pay increase after years of stagnation. She also called for modernizing the magistrate system by assigning magistrates by judicial district instead of by county to better align workload and save money. Christensen highlighted the ongoing shortage of court-appointed attorneys due to low pay, which she said undermines constitutional obligations and public safety, and framed these issues within a broader theme of leadership — doing what is right even when it is difficult and explaining those decisions clearly to the public and policymakers.
Link to the text of her speech
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Thank you - her speech was an interesting and worthwhile read.