House Joint Resolution 2014 - Introduced HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 2014 BY HAGENOW HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution 1 of the State of Iowa abolishing the district judicial 2 nominating commissions and the state judicial nominating 3 commission. 4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 5951HH (9) 83 jm/rj
H.J.R. 2014 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of 1 the State of Iowa is proposed: 2 1. Section 15 of Article V of the Constitution of the 3 State of Iowa, as added by the Amendment of 1962, is amended 4 beginning July 1, 2013, to read as follows: 5 Vacancies in courts. SEC. 15. Vacancies in the Supreme 6 Court and District Court shall be filled by appointment by the 7 Governor from lists of nominees submitted by the appropriate 8 judicial nominating commission. Three nominees shall be 9 submitted for each Supreme Court vacancy, and two nominees 10 shall be submitted for each District Court vacancy. If the 11 Governor fails for thirty days to make the appointment, it 12 shall be made from such nominees by the Chief Justice of the 13 Supreme Court qualified resident members of the bar of the 14 state . 15 2. Section 16 of Article V of the Constitution of the 16 State of Iowa, as added by the Amendment of 1962, is repealed 17 beginning July 1, 2013. 18 Sec. 2. REFERRAL AND PUBLICATION. The foregoing amendment 19 to the Constitution of the State of Iowa is referred to the 20 General Assembly to be chosen at the next general election 21 for members of the General Assembly, and the Secretary of 22 State is directed to cause the same to be published for three 23 consecutive months previous to the date of that election as 24 provided by law. 25 EXPLANATION 26 This joint resolution proposes an amendment to the 27 Constitution of the State of Iowa abolishes the district 28 judicial nominating commissions and the state judicial 29 nominating commission thus removing their duty to nominate 30 candidates for appointment by the governor as judicial 31 officers. 32 The amendment to the Constitution provides that the governor 33 may appoint any qualified resident member of the bar of the 34 state to fill a vacancy on the supreme court or district court. 35 -1- LSB 5951HH (9) 83 jm/rj 1/ 2
H.J.R. 2014 The Constitution currently requires the governor to 1 appoint a person to fill a vacancy on the supreme court from 2 the list of three nominees submitted by the state judicial 3 nominating commission. For appointments to district court, 4 the Constitution currently requires the governor to appoint 5 a person to fill a vacancy from the list of two nominees 6 submitted by the district judicial nominating commission. 7 The members of the state judicial nominating commission 8 consist of one resident member from each congressional district 9 appointed by the governor and one resident member from each 10 congressional district elected by the members of the bar of the 11 state. 12 The members of each judicial district nominating commission 13 consist of five members appointed by the governor from the 14 judicial election district and five resident members elected by 15 the members of the bar from the judicial election district. 16 The resolution, if adopted, would be referred to the next 17 General Assembly (Eighty-fourth) for adoption before the 18 amendment is submitted to the electorate for ratification. 19 The resolution if adopted and ratified by the electorate 20 takes effect beginning July 1, 2013. 21 -2- LSB 5951HH (9) 83 jm/rj 2/ 2