Before Judge Kevin McKeever in Tama County District Court in Toledo:

Joshua Dean Forrester, 30, Tama,, admitted in writing he had violated terms of probation and was found in contempt. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, credited for seven days already served. He was ordered released from jail and directed to serve the remaining 23 days in home confinement. His probationary status was continued.

Forrester was cited in a probation violation report for failure to enroll in the Iowa Domestic Abuse Program as ordered, failure to maker an appointment for a substance abuse evaluation as directed, testing positive for methamphetamine, and not coming to seven scheduled probation office appointments.

Forrester was charged on Aug. 10, 2019 with 1st offense domestic assault by Tama Police and pleaded guilty on Sept. 18,

Cases Continued

In Tama County District Court records to April 2 a total of 47 criminal and civil cases had been continued along with three jury trials.

Courthouse Access

It is reported Chief Judges are working with each county to ensure that the public can access Clerk of Court offices and courtrooms for the certain procedures.

If you need to access the Clerk’s Office, call the office first so that you can follow the procedures that are in place. The Tama County Clerk’s Office in the Courthouse in Toledo phone number is 641-484-3721.

Trials

On March 14 the Iowa Supreme Court ordered postponements of all criminal and civil jury trials be postponed until May 4 unless a jury had already been seated. The postponements are to protect public safety by mitigating the impact of coronavirus /COVID-19. according to as court press release.

On April 3 the Court ordered july trials to not be scheduled before July 13 and nonjury trials to not be set before June 1.

On March 17 the Supreme Court said in a news release “Following Governor Reynolds’s State of Public Health Emergency Declaration earlier today, the Iowa Supreme Court issued an order permitting new ways to access courts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The court’s March 14 order postponed all jury trials. That order expands on that order by allowing any party, including the prosecutor, defense counsel, defendant, victims, and/or witnesses, to appear remotely by videoconference or telephone for many court procedures. It also postpones all non-jury criminal trials until April 20 or later and all non-jury civil trials until May 4 or later.

On March 26 an order also set the priority case types for rescheduling criminal jury trials,

Priority Cases allows district courts to accept written guilty pleas in felony cases, suspends all grand jury proceedings, and allows defendants to waive initial appearance by executing a written waiver. The order includes procedures to mitigating the impact of coronavirus / COVID-19 in small claim cases, juvenile cases, appellate cases and problem solving courts.

Also, All fines and fees can be mailed to the appropriate clerk of court office or using the pay by phone number – 515-348-4788

Also on March 26 the court announced he “Pay a Fine or Court Fee” page on the Iowa Judicial Branch website:

(www.iowacourts.gov/for-the-public/pay-a-fine/) is the fastest way to pay a traffic ticket or outstanding court debt any time of the day or night using a major credit card. The payer must know the type of case, the county in which the charge or citation was issued, the case number, or the name of the person charged. The page includes the answers to more than 20 commonly asked questions about paying court fines and fees.