May/June 2008 issue
Iowa Court Offices Regroup After Flood
Historic flood levels have caused untold damage
in Cedar Rapids and other parts of Iowa.
Virtually all buildings in downtown Cedar
Rapids had major flooding in their basements
and on their first floors. The Probation office on
the 1st floor is a total loss. The Cedar Rapids
library “annex,” a collection of about 1000
treatise volumes, was located in the basement of
the courthouse and is also a total loss.
The basements and 1st floors of the three leased
buildings used by Circuit Judge Melloy, Circuit
Judge Hansen, Bankruptcy Judge Kilburg, and
Library Assistant Joy Osmundson also flooded.
The estimate for re-occupancy of the leased
buildings is uncertain. While the judges'
chambers were on higher floors and are
probably ok at this point, ongoing conditions
such as mold could cause further damage to
books, furniture, and equipment. The
Courthouse will probably not be useable for 6-9
months.
Temporary space for District, Bankruptcy,
Probation, and FPD has been leased, and
employees reported for duty in the District Court
space on June 23rd. (See
http://www.iand.uscourts.gov/for information about District court operations.)
Judge Melloy is temporarily housed at the
University of Iowa Law School in Iowa City, and
hopes to be back in his regular space by August
1st. Judge Hansen and his staff are in St. Louis
until temporary space is available for them.
The response from the AO has been impressive.
They swung into action immediately. Working
with GSA, they moved with amazing speed to
secure the temporary spaces, which of course are
quite in demand in Cedar Rapids right now.