S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 602.1215, subsection 1, Code 2014, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. Subject to the provisions of section 602.1209, 3 subsection 3 , the district judges of each chief judge of 4 the judicial election district , after consultation with the 5 district judges of the judicial district, shall by majority 6 vote appoint persons to serve as clerks of the district court 7 within the judicial election district. The district judges of 8 a judicial election district chief judge may appoint a person 9 to serve as clerk of the district court for more than one but 10 not more than four contiguous counties in the same judicial 11 district. A person does not qualify for appointment to the 12 office of clerk of the district court unless the person is at 13 the time of application a resident of the state. A clerk of 14 the district court may be removed from office for cause by a 15 majority vote of the district judges of the chief judge of 16 the judicial election district. Before Prior to removal, the 17 clerk of the district court shall be notified of the cause for 18 removal. 19 EXPLANATION 20 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 21 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 22 This bill relates to the appointment of the clerks of the 23 district court. 24 Under current law, a clerk of the district court is appointed 25 and may be removed by a majority vote of all district judges in 26 the judicial election district. The state court administrator 27 must approve the appointment. 28 The bill changes the method by which the clerk of the 29 district court is appointed. The amendment permits the chief 30 judge of each judicial district to appoint the clerks of the 31 district court in the judicial district after consultation with 32 the district judges of the judicial district. The amendment 33 also permits the chief judge to remove clerks of the district 34 court for cause. 35 -1- LSB 5324XD (2) 85 rh/rj 1/ 1