HSB 636

_____ the membership of district judicial nominating commissions, nominees to the court of appeals, and the appointments, resignations, and residency requirements of district judges, district associate judges, associate juvenile judges, and associate probate judges. District judicial nominating commissions are responsible for screening applicants and selecting nominees for district court judicial vacancies. There is a nominating commission for each of Iowa’s judicial election subdistricts. District nominating commissions provide the governor with a slate of two nominees from which to make an appointment to the district court. Under current law, the governor appoints five eligible electors of each judicial district to the 11-person commission. Five members are elected by the bar, and the most senior judge in the district serves as the 11th commissioner and as the chairperson of the commission. The bill removes the most senior judge as a commissioner and as the chairperson. The bill provides that the governor shall appoint a sixth commissioner, and that the commissioners shall elect a chairperson from their own number. The bill provides that commissioners shall be appointed without reference to political affiliation, that no more than half of the appointed commissioners shall be of the same gender, and that a commissioner cannot be reelected after serving a full six-year term. A person shall not be appointed as a commissioner that holds a federal or state office of profit. The bill provides for special appointment of the sixth appointed district judicial nominating commissioner and transition provisions. The initial term of the sixth commissioner appointed by the governor to each judicial nominating commission shall begin on July 1, 2022, and shall expire on June 30, 2024. _____ administrators shall provide administrative support, facilities, and other assistance to their respective judicial nominating commission for any meeting of the commission that is properly noticed. Under current law, the nominees for district judge shall file a certified application that is to be provided to the supreme court. The bill provides that the nominees no longer are required to submit a certified application and the chairperson of the commission shall promptly send a certified list of nominees by electronic mail to the governor and chief justice of the supreme court or their designees on the day of the nomination. Under current law, the state judicial nominating commission submits three nominees for a vacant court of appeals position. The bill provides that five nominees shall be submitted for each vacancy. Under current law, a district judge, a full-time associate judge, a full-time associate juvenile judge, and a full-time associate probate judge must be a resident of the judicial election district in which appointed. The bill provides that a district judge, a full-time associate judge, a full-time associate juvenile judge, and a full-time associate probate judge must be a resident of the judicial election district before assuming office and during the entire term of office. Under current law, district associate judges, full-time associate juvenile judges, and full-time associate probate judges are appointed by the district judges of the judicial election district from persons nominated by the county magistrate appointing commission. The bill provides that district associate judges, full-time associate juvenile judges, and full-time associate probate judges shall be appointed by the governor from persons nominated by the district judicial nominating commission in the same manner as district judges under Code chapter 46. _____ associate juvenile judge, or full-time associate probate judge who seeks to resign shall notify in writing the governor, chief judge of the judicial district, and state commissioner of elections as to the district associate judge’s, associate full-time juvenile judge’s, or associate full-time probate judge’s intention to resign and the effective date of the resignation. When a vacancy occurs or will occur within 120 days in the office of the district associate judge, associate full-time juvenile judge, and associate full-time probate judge, the state commissioner of elections shall notify the governor. The governor shall call a meeting of the commission within days after such notice. If the governor fails to do so, the chief justice shall call such meeting. The bill provides that a person does not qualify for appointment to the office of district associate judge, associate full-time juvenile judge, or associate full-time probate judge unless the person is at the time of appointment licensed to practice law in Iowa, and will be able, measured by the person’s age at the time of appointment, to complete the initial term of office prior to reaching age 72. Nominees must reside in the judicial election district to which they are nominated or in another judicial election district in the same judicial district as the judicial election district to which they are nominated. Under current law, a member of a county magistrate appointing commission shall not be appointed to the office of magistrate, district associate judge, office of associate juvenile judge, or office of associate probate judge. The bill provides that a member of a county magistrate appointing commission shall not be appointed to the office of magistrate but may be nominated for or appointed to the office of district associate judge, office of associate juvenile judge, or office of associate probate judge.