Update: this bill was sidelined by the legislative funnel and will not be moving forward this legislative session.
Keep politics out of judge selection
A bill working its way through the legislature would alter how district court judges are selected in a way that would politicize the selection of judges. The bill removes the judge from the commission and increases the governor's appointees on the commission to 6 of the 11 members. The Sierra Club opposes the bill - SF407.
When a vacancy occurs in a district court judge position, lawyers who apply to fill the vacancy are interviewed by a nominating commission. The nominating commission forwards the names of two people to the governor who must select one of those individuals to fill the vacancy.
Currently, of the 11 members of the nominating commission members, 5 are selected by the governor, 5 are selected by members of the practicing attorneys living in the judicial district, and one member is the most senior judge in the district. The judge is the chair of the nominating commission.
The bill SF407 would change the composition of the nominating commission. The governor would select 6 of the members, the practicing attorneys would select 5 members, and there would be no judges on the nominating commission. The chair of the nominating commission would be selected by the commission members.
Having a judge on the commission makes a lot of sense. The judge is be able to provide guidance on what a judge does and how the court system operates. Lawyers and the judge are able to look at the skills that the applicants have and how they would perform in the judge role. The attorneys and judge who sit on the nominating commission help keep the judge selection process free of politicization. The membership balance helps maintain the integrity of the judicial system.
Judges should be selected on a merit-based system like we currently have. The system as it stands is not broken. There is no need to change how district court judges are selected.
There are 14 judicial districts in Iowa. Each judicial district has its own nominating commission. The district court judges - district judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, and associate probate judge - preside in the courts in the judicial district.
What you can do
SF407 passed the Senate and is now awaiting action by the House Judiciary Committee. Please contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee and ask that they oppose SF407. Their email addresses are steven.holt@legis.iowa.gov , judd.lawler@legis.iowa.gov , lindsay.james@legis.iowa.gov , ken.croken@legis.iowa.gov , jon.dunwell@legis.iowa.gov , samantha.fett@legis.iowa.gov , bill.gustoff@legis.iowa.gov , brian.lohse@legis.iowa.gov , brian.meyer@legis.iowa.gov , carter.nordman@legis.iowa.gov , rick.olson@legis.iowa.gov , jeff.shipley@legis.iowa.gov , megan.srinivas@legis.iowa.gov , henry.stone@legis.iowa.gov , mark.thompson@legis.iowa.gov , charley.thomson@legis.iowa.gov , beth.wessel-kroeschell@legis.iowa.gov , skyler.wheeler@legis.iowa.gov , ross.wilburn@legis.iowa.gov , craig.williams@legis.iowa.gov , john.wills@legis.iowa.gov