Today, Senator Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, issued the following statement regarding today’s Senate Government Oversight Committee meeting reviewing the burglaries of the Polk and Dallas County Courthouses.

“I appreciate the time from elected officials and staff of Dallas and Polk Counties as well as members of the Iowa Judicial Branch. Today’s meeting was informative and enlightening. I was pleased to hear Chief Justice Cady offer an apology for diminishing the public trust and his commitment to ensure similar incidents never happen again.

The Judicial Branch’s hiring of an out of state vendor to break into county courthouses on September 11 created significant danger, not only to the contractors, but to local law enforcement, and members of the public. Additionally, the Judicial Branch seems unable to address the inconsistencies whether or not physical break in was expected or authorized. Upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigations, I look forward to receiving more information regarding these incidents and the processes put in place to ensure a similar incident does not occur.”