By Beacon Staff
The Des Moines County Courthouse likely will reopen Monday, June 8.
Des Moines County Supervisors have yet to vote on the reopening. However, supervisors Tom Broeker, Bob Beck, and Jim Cary discussed the matter during their Tuesday morning (May 26) board meeting.
Des Moines County Attorney Lisa Schaefer said reopening the courthouse to the public is needed to speed up processing non-jury cases.
The board agreed that it would be in the best interest of the county to get those proceedings rolling again. The June 8 date would follow the June 2 primary election.
Though the board made no action to rescind the closure, which has been in effect since March 18, they can vote on reopening the courthouse on June 2. That is when the board next meets in regular session.
Non-jury hearings won’t start until July 13, and jury trials can’t resume until Sept. 14. They were initially planning for non-jury trials to resume June 1, until the Iowa Supreme court issued a directive pushing those dates back.
“We’re going to have a lot of office staff with not a lot to do, so we’re going to have start figuring out how to keep people busy, or what the other alternatives are,” Schaefer said.
Des Moines County Conservation Director Chris Lee also reported to the board Tuesday, noting that the Memorial Day weekend was busy for county parks and campgrounds. He expects that interest to continue through the summer.
“I went on Big Hollow Lake, took the family out, and it was just unbelievable the number of kayaks and boats, and people all around the park. We put that new kayak launch a few years ago, and it’s just wildly popular,” he said.
So popular, he said, that lack of parking is becoming an issue.