And, despite the compact size of the room, there are parts of it that are absolutely dead to sound. To top all of this off, the room itself is too small. There are just 42 spectator seats. Seating is not done in a way to enhance the ability of those attending to see what is going on. Lighting is terrible.
Ventilation is worse than the lighting.
Some of Iowa's courthouses are just plain old and of a different era, some over 100 years old. But even relatively new courthouses can be and are out of date. It is not easy to update bricks and mortar. Worn and tired, sharing space with county offices, most courthouses were built before there was a need to give much thought to security. About the only safeguards in many older courthouses is a means close to judges' benches for jurists quickly to exit courtrooms A few years ago, the Iowa Supreme Court's Commission on Courts in the 21st Century confirmed the that caseloads would rise dramatically, propelled by dissolutions, domestic abuse and drug cases.