ICRA Midyear Seminar

IOWA COURT REPORTERS ASSOCIATION

2024 Midyear Seminar

November 9, 2024

Luana Savings Bank, 855 W Bridge Road

Polk City, Iowa

Please carpool if possible since parking is limited.  Thanks!

.7 CEUs (NCRA Pending)

With Liberty and Justice for All                9:00 - 10:00

Presented by Jim Kringlen, Iowa Legal Aid

Iowa Legal Aid was founded in 1977 and is a critical resource to low income and underserved populations in Iowa. Mr. Kringlen will educate us on its history and importance. He will inform us how volunteer court reporters are vital to their service.

Jim Kringlen was born and raised in Oelwein, Iowa. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1985 with a B.S. in Geology and then the University of Iowa College of Law in 1988. He started his employment with legal aid programs in Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia for 7 years and then returned to Iowa City to work for Iowa Legal Aid (f/k/a Legal Services Corporation of Iowa) for 7 years. Jim was the managing attorney in theCedar Rapidsbranch from 2003 to 2019 and now works through the Iowa City office.

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How a Bill Becomes a Law               10:15 - 11:45

Presented by Representative Megan Jones and Representative Brian Lohse

This session will show you the sausage making of bills in the Iowa Legislature. The good, the bad, the ugly. Getting familiar with the legislative process is important to our advocacy as an organization, as participants in the judicial branch, and as Iowans.

Megan Jones has served in the Iowa Legislature since 2012. She has chaired the Environmental Protection and Administrative Rules Committee and was previously elected to serve as Assistant Majority Leader. In another life, Megan serves as an Assistant County Attorney in Buena Vista County. She resides in Clay County with her husband and five children.

Brian Lohse is the former owner of Brick Street Market in Bondurant and currently owns Brick Street Cafe and Brick House Fitness. Prior to his election to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2018, he served on the Bondurant City Council for nearly 10 years. In the Iowa House, he serves as chair of the Justice Systems Budget subcommittee and on the Commerce, Judiciary, Health and Human Services and Appropriations committees.

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Lunch and Learn                               12:00 - 1:30

Presented by Sydney Gangestad and Logan Murray

Our ICRA lobbyists will bring us up to speed on the November election and what we might be able to expect in the next legislative session.  They will also provide some grassroots training to teach us how to be effective advocates for our profession.

Sydney is an attorney and lobbyist with over 10 years of public policy experience. In her various policy roles, she has developed a fundamental understanding of the legislative process and a non-partisan and bi-partisan approach to lobbying to help advance clients ’ legislative agendas. Prior to joining Davis Brown, Sydney served as the Special Counsel and Legislative Liaison for the Iowa Judicial Branch where she represented the interests of the Iowa judiciary before the legislative and executive branches. She assisted the State Court Administrator and the Iowa Supreme Court in policy development for the state court system. 

Logan brings nearly a decade of government relations experience building and maintaining bi-partisan relationships at all levels of government. Through his previous roles as a political staffer and lobbyist, Logan has developed a reputation as a trusted resource for clients, policymakers, and legislators.

After graduating from Drake University Law School, Logan joined the Iowa House Republican Caucus as a Legislative Analyst and Policy Advisor. He drafted and analyzed proposed legislation for state and local government and labor committees. He also served as the primary staffer for the Transportation Budget and the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. Upon leaving the caucus staff, Logan served as a multi-client lobbyist and attorney at an Iowa-based boutique law firm and later at a regional law firm where he represented trade associations, non-profit organizations, municipal governments, law enforcement, a casino, and national corporations.

State of Iowa vs. Kimmi Lynn Hardy                  1:45 - 3:15

Presented by Bruce McDonald

On July 16, 1996, thirty-four-year-old Theresa Lund gave birth to her fourth child, Paul Eugene Lund, at the Keokuk Area Hospital. On August 28, 1996, Theresa and Paul went missing. A missing persons report was made to the Keokuk Police Department on August 29, 1996. What followed was the most incredible and bizarre case that I ever worked in my thirty years as a public prosecutor, resulting in the conviction of Kimmi Lynn Hardy for first degree murder, kidnapping, and child stealing.

Bruce McDonald served as an assistant Iowa attorney general from 1978 to 1985. That position brought him to southeast Iowa where he served as trial counsel and area prosecutor in the Iowa State Penitentiary, a maximum security facility. Mr. McDonald stayed in Keokuk, Iowa, to continue his career as a litigator, including serving as an assistant Lee County attorney. He graduated from University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from University of Iowa College of Law.

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Day in the Life               3:30 - 4:30

Presented by Terri Martin, CSR, RPR, CRR

Terri will provide a glimpse of the long History of the House Office of Official Reporters, discuss the general organizational structure and types of support services that the House Office of Official Reporters provides to the United States of Representatives, and, finally, offer a synopsis of the day in the life of a reporter working on Capitol Hill, including reporting on the House floor and committee assignments. She will also provide an overview on the role that the House Office of Official Reporters play for significant historical events, such as the President ’s State of the Union Address, Other Joint Sessions and Meetings of Congress, special investigations and select committees of Congress, and the Inauguration of the President.

Terri Martin hails from Fairfield, Iowa, and now resides in Norwalk, Iowa. She completed her court reporter schooling at AIB and has served as a freelance reporter, official reporter, and now as a reporter with the Office of Official Reporters for the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Freelancer FAQs            4:45 - 5:45

Presented by Rachel Waterhouse-Schwalm, CSR, and Kelly Pieper, CSR

What questions have you had that were never answered?  What do other court reporters do that I should do or could help me? What are Iowa’s rules about contracting, anyway? What in the world is a digital reporter? We’ll dig into the answers to these questions and more by utilizing our years of freelance experience and the extensive educational materials NCRA has to offer.

Kelly Pieper, RPR, CSR, CRR, is a certified shorthand reporter in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri with 15 years of experience reporting depositions, hearings and other freelance assignments.  She is also a Registered Professional Reporter and Certified Realtime Reporter.  Kelly prides herself on building long-term relationships with her clients by providing excellent service and consistently using technology to make their world and hers more efficient and effective.  

Rachel Waterhouse-Schwalm, CSR, graduated from the American Institute of Business in Des Moines, Iowa, with a court reporting degree. She’s been a freelance court reporter from 1992 until today. She has served on ICRA’s Board of Directors, including as our president from 2018-2019. She’s also a member of the Iowa Board of Shorthand Examiners and is currently serving as their secretary. Rachel is our National Congress of State Association’s representative. She’s completed NCRA Legislative Bootcamp in 2016 and Leadership Training in 2017.