Conversations About Government in Iowa

Interview by Jennifer Acton with Dennis Jacobs, Executive Director of the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System (411 System), regarding how the retirement system came to be in the early 1990's and how the System has developed over the past 30 years.

Interview by Beth Lenstra with John Baldwin, Director of the Department of Corrections, regarding the creation of the Department of Corrections, current challenges and opportunities, and future issues of Iowa's corrections system.

Interview by Christin Mechler with Dennis Britson, Assistant Bureau Chief of the Iowa Securities and Regulated Industries Bureau, regarding local governance, and specifically township governance, of cemeteries in Iowa.

Interview by Beth Lenstra with Delbert Longley, Chief Jail Inspector for the State of Iowa and an employee of the Iowa Department of Corrections, regarding Delbert’s career, the jail inspection process, and the development of administrative rules related to jail inspections.

An interview by Jennifer Acton with David Boyd, State Court Administrator, regarding the history of the Judicial Branch, court re-organization in the 1980's, and court technology in the 1990's to present.

Interview by Rodrigo Acevedo with Earl Swift, author of “The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries and Trailblazers Who Created the American Super-Highways." The interview includes a discussion regarding the career of Thomas H. MacDonald, who previously worked for the Iowa State Highway Commission and at what is now known as the Federal Highway Administration.

Interview by Robin Madison with Heather Doe, Associate Director for the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, regarding Commission programs that help prepare elementary, middle school, and high school students for college and careers.

(Part two of two) Interview by Robin Madison and Jennifer Acton, Senior Legislative Analysts with the Legislative Services Agency, with former Iowa legislators: Senator Mary Kramer, Representative Delores Mertz, Senator Sandy Greiner, and Representative Janet Adams, regarding their respective careers in the Iowa General Assembly.

Interview by Robin Madison with Senator Jack Kibbie regarding the creation of the Community College System in Iowa.

Interview by Glen Dickinson, Director of the Legislative Services Agency, with Joe Royce upon his retirement as Administrative Rules Coordinator regarding the creation of the administrative rules process and the history of how it evolved into the Committee it is today.