DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A special task force that examined the state's magistrate court system says in a new report that there are "significant problems" and proposes a handful of structural changes to the existing system.

The 31-member task force was headed by former state legislator Donald Redfern, a Cedar Falls attorney.

Redfern says the task force found that in many respects "the system works very well," but there are problems that need to be addressed.

Among those problems are disparities in workloads and an increase in the complexity of civil and criminal laws within magistrates' jurisdiction.

Some of the recommendations included changing state law to allow the judicial branch to convert two part-time magistrate positions to one full-time position and removing the requirement that each county have a resident magistrate or judge.