Iowa Courthouse

Johnson County's facilities manager said he thinks an air quality concern at the courthouse has been solved, but some think a problem still exists.
"We do not have the smell down there any longer," county facilities manager David Kempf said. "We've slowly but surely incrementally eliminated any of the items that could be causing the problem. I think we've done everything we can to fix the problem. If it does come back, we will continue to work to solve it."
Kempf said he would present results from an air quality study to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors during its meeting Thursday. Last month, the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory tested for mold and fungi on the first and second floors at the more than 100-year-old courthouse.
Kempf declined to release the study until he presents it to the supervisors. However, he said it showed air inside the courthouse contained substantially fewer airborne molds and fungi than what is found outside. It is at least the second air quality test at the courthouse in two years that yielded no dangerous elements.
"That's not to take away from the fact that there might be individuals who are hypersensitive to the types of molds in the air," Kempf said.
For at least three years, several judges, court reporters and courthouse staffers have reported symptoms including headaches, runny eyes, sinus problems and respiratory congestion. In addition, a musty, basement smell reportedly looms in courtroom 1A.
The smell has prompted about half of the district's judges and several court reporters to refuse to work in the courtroom.
Since last winter, Kempf said some measures have been taken to address the problem including rerouting fresh air intakes, reworking air conditioning condensate lines and installing air purifiers throughout the courthouse.
To date, Kempf estimates the county has spent $3,000 to $4,000 to address the matter.
"I don't believe it will come back," Kempf said about the smell. "I really think we've probably come as close as we're going to get to eliminating the problem."
However, 6th Judicial District Court Administrator Carroll Edmondson said he still thought there were air quality issues at the courthouse and said the air needed to be tested for other possible contaminants.
"(The study) may be right. It's not a fungi problem, but there's still a problem here causing people health issues, and it's not one or two people, it's a number of people," Edmondson said. "We're going to pursue the problem because we think a problem exists."
Johnson County Attorney J. Patrick White, whose offices are located near courtroom 1A, said he was not surprised by the air quality test results.
"We've had people in there for hours at a time without any difficulty," White said. "I don't think it's been a big problem at all."
However, Judge Douglas Russell and court reporter Wilma Porter said they have experienced problems in that courtroom and no longer work there. Russell said he had respiratory problems, nasal congestion and a runny nose that seemed to stem from working in the basement.
Porter said she would get headaches followed by flu-like symptoms -- problems she didn't experience at the district's five other courthouses.
"When half the court reporters are getting sick and half the judges are getting sick, you know it's not in our heads," Porter said.