H.F. 416 Section 1. Section 46.1, Code 2011, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 46.1 Appointment of state judicial nominating commissioners. 3 The Except as otherwise provided in section 46.1A, the 4 governor shall appoint, subject to confirmation by the senate, 5 one four eligible elector electors of each congressional 6 district to the state judicial nominating commission for a 7 six-year term beginning and ending as provided in section 8 69.19 . The terms of no more than three six nor less than two 9 four of the members shall expire within the same two-year 10 period. No more than a simple majority of the members 11 appointed shall be of the same gender. The appointed members 12 shall be voting members. 13 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 46.1A State judicial nominating 14 members —— appointment —— transition. 15 1. In order to transition to sixteen appointed members for 16 the state judicial nominating commission and to ensure each 17 appointed member serves a six-year term, and future terms are 18 staggered, the composition of the state judicial nominating 19 commission shall consist of the following number of appointed 20 members during the following time periods: 21 a. At the time of appointing successors for the two 22 appointive terms ending on April 30, 2011, the governor shall 23 appoint a total of five eligible electors to the state judicial 24 nominating commission. The appointive membership of the state 25 judicial nominating commission shall then consist of ten 26 appointed members from May 1, 2011, through April 30, 2013. 27 b. At the time of appointing successors for the three 28 appointive terms ending on April 30, 2013, the governor shall 29 appoint a total of six eligible electors to the state judicial 30 nominating commission. The appointive membership of the state 31 judicial nominating commission shall then consist of thirteen 32 appointed members from May 1, 2013, through April 30, 2015. 33 c. At the time of appointing successors for the two 34 appointive terms ending on April 30, 2015, the governor shall 35 -1- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 1/ 7

H.F. 416 appoint a total of five eligible electors to the state judicial 1 nominating commission. The appointive membership of the state 2 judicial nominating commission shall then consist of sixteen 3 appointed members from May 1, 2015, and every year thereafter. 4 2. To ensure geographic balance during the transition 5 to sixteen appointed members the governor shall first make 6 an appointment to the state judicial nominating commission 7 from the eligible electors of a congressional district with 8 the least number of appointed members on the commission. If 9 two or more congressional districts with the least number of 10 appointed members have equal membership the governor shall make 11 an appointment to break the tie and then appoint a member from 12 the congressional district with the least number of appointed 13 members on the commission. 14 Sec. 3. Section 46.2, Code 2011, is amended by striking the 15 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 16 46.2 Election of state judicial nominating commission member. 17 1. The resident members of the bar shall elect one 18 eligible elector of the state to the state judicial nominating 19 commission for a six-year term beginning July 1, 2015. The 20 members of the bar shall in January, immediately preceding the 21 expiration of the term, elect a successor for a like term. The 22 elected member shall be a nonvoting, advisory member. 23 2. The elected members of the state judicial nominating 24 commission serving on the commission as of the effective 25 date of this Act shall remain on the commission until their 26 respective terms end, and no new successor member shall 27 be elected except as provided in subsection 3. The voting 28 terms of the elected members of the state judicial nominating 29 commission end on the effective date of this Act. 30 3. In January 2015, the members of the bar shall elect the 31 eligible elector as provided in subsection 1. 32 Sec. 4. Section 46.2A, Code 2011, is amended by striking the 33 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 34 46.2A Chairperson of the state judicial nominating 35 -2- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 2/ 7

H.F. 416 commission. 1 1. The justice of the supreme court who is senior in length, 2 other than the chief justice, shall be the chairperson of the 3 state judicial nominating commission. The chairperson shall 4 be a nonvoting advisory member of the commission unless a vote 5 ends in a tie, in such case the chairperson is eligible to cast 6 the tie-breaking vote. 7 2. If supreme court justices have equal length of service, 8 the eldest of such justices shall be the chairperson of the 9 state judicial nominating commission. 10 Sec. 5. Section 46.3, Code 2011, is amended to read as 11 follows: 12 46.3 Appointment of district judicial nominating 13 commissioners. 14 The governor shall appoint five eligible electors of each 15 judicial election district to the district judicial nominating 16 commission. Appointments shall be to staggered terms of six 17 years each and shall be made in the month of January for terms 18 commencing February 1 of even-numbered years. No more than 19 a simple majority of the commissioners appointed shall be of 20 the same gender. The appointed commissioners shall be voting 21 members. 22 Sec. 6. Section 46.4, Code 2011, is amended by striking the 23 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 24 46.4 Election of district judicial nominating commissioner. 25 1. The resident members of the bar of each judicial election 26 district shall elect one eligible elector of the district to 27 the district judicial nominating commission for a six-year 28 term beginning February 1, 2016. The members of the bar shall 29 in January, immediately preceding the expiration of the term, 30 elect a successor for a like term. The elected commissioner 31 shall be a nonvoting, advisory commissioner. 32 2. The elected commissioners of the district judicial 33 nominating commission serving on the commission as of the 34 effective date of this Act shall remain on the commission until 35 -3- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 3/ 7

H.F. 416 their respective terms end, and no new successor commissioner 1 shall be elected except as provided in subsection 3. The 2 voting terms of the elected commissioners of the district 3 judicial nominating commission end on the effective date of 4 this Act. 5 3. In January 2016, the members of the bar shall elect the 6 eligible elector as provided in subsection 1. 7 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 46.4A Chairperson of district judicial 8 nominating commission. 9 1. The district judge who is senior in length shall be the 10 chairperson of the district judicial nominating commission. 11 The chairperson shall be a nonvoting, advisory member of the 12 commission unless a vote ends in a tie, in such case the 13 chairperson is eligible to cast the tie-breaking vote. 14 2. If district judges have equal length of service, the 15 eldest of such judges shall be the chairperson of the district 16 judicial nominating commission. 17 Sec. 8. REPEAL. Section 46.6, Code 2011, is repealed. 18 Sec. 9. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This Act, being deemed of 19 immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment. 20 EXPLANATION 21 This bill relates to the membership of the state judicial 22 nominating commission and the district judicial nominating 23 commissions. 24 STATE JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION. The bill specifies 25 that members appointed to the state judicial nominating 26 commission by the governor shall be voting members of the 27 commission and members elected to the commission by members 28 of the state bar shall be advisory nonvoting members of the 29 commission. Current law provides that both appointed and 30 elected members of the state judicial nominating commission are 31 voting members. 32 Current law relating to the change in the number of Iowa’s 33 congressional districts provides that the terms of each 34 appointed and elected member of the state judicial nominating 35 -4- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 4/ 7

H.F. 416 commission expire on December 31, 2012, and staggered 1 transitional terms begin January 1, 2013, based upon the four 2 congressional districts being established following the 2010 3 decennial census. The bill strikes these current transitional 4 provisions and establishes a new process for transitioning the 5 membership of the state judicial nominating commission based 6 upon four congressional districts being established following 7 the 2010 decennial census. 8 Under the new process established by the bill, the governor 9 shall appoint four eligible electors from each congressional 10 district to the state judicial nominating commission. The bill 11 allows the six-year term of each of the seven current appointed 12 members on the state judicial nominating commission to expire 13 six years after appointment. 14 In order for the state judicial nominating commission to 15 transition from seven appointed members to 16 appointed members 16 and to ensure each appointed member serves a six-year term, 17 and future terms are staggered, the size of the state judicial 18 nominating commission shall vary during the transitional period 19 under the bill. Beginning with the two appointive terms 20 ending on April 30, 2011, the governor shall appoint five 21 eligible electors to the state judicial nominating commission. 22 The appointive membership of the state judicial nominating 23 commission shall then consist of 10 appointed members from May 24 1, 2011, through April 30, 2013. Beginning with the three 25 appointive terms ending on April 30, 2013, the governor shall 26 appoint six eligible electors to the state judicial nominating 27 commission. The appointive membership of the state judicial 28 nominating commission shall then consist of 13 appointed 29 members from May 1, 2013, through April 30, 2015. Beginning 30 with the two appointive terms ending on April 30, 2015, the 31 governor shall appoint five eligible electors to the state 32 judicial nominating commission. The appointive membership 33 of the state judicial nominating commission, having achieved 34 the required number of appointed members, shall consist of 16 35 -5- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 5/ 7

H.F. 416 appointed members after May 1, 2015, and every year thereafter. 1 The bill reduces the number of members of the state judicial 2 nominating commission elected by the resident members of 3 the bar from seven members to one member by July 1, 2015, 4 and makes all current elected members nonvoting members of 5 the commission. The current members of the state judicial 6 nominating commission shall remain on the commission until the 7 respective term of the member ends. The last terms of current 8 elected members end on June 30, 2015. When the last terms 9 of current elected members end, the bill provides that the 10 resident members of the bar shall elect one eligible elector 11 of the state to the state judicial nominating commission for a 12 six-year, nonvoting term beginning July 1, 2015, and every six 13 years thereafter. 14 The state judicial nominating commission nominates persons 15 for appointment by the governor to the supreme court and court 16 of appeals. 17 DISTRICT JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION. The bill specifies 18 that members appointed to the district judicial nominating 19 commissions by the governor shall be voting members of the 20 commission and members elected to the commission by members 21 of the state bar shall be advisory, nonvoting members of the 22 commission. Current law provides that both appointed and 23 elected members of the district judicial nominating commissions 24 are voting members. 25 Under the bill, the number of commissioners appointed by the 26 governor to serve on a district judicial nominating commission 27 remains at five commissioners. 28 The bill reduces the number of commissioners of a district 29 judicial nominating commission elected by the resident members 30 of the bar from five members to one member by January 31, 2016, 31 and makes all current elected members nonvoting members of 32 the commission. The current members of the district judicial 33 nominating commission shall remain on the commission until 34 their respective terms end. The last term of a current 35 -6- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 6/ 7

H.F. 416 elected member ends on January 31, 2016. When the last term 1 of a current elected member ends, the bill provides that the 2 resident members of the bar shall elect one eligible elector of 3 the state to the district judicial nominating commission for a 4 six-year, nonvoting term beginning February 1, 2016, and every 5 six years thereafter. 6 The district judicial nominating commissions nominate 7 persons for appointment by the governor to the district court 8 bench. 9 CHAIRPERSON OF STATE JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION OR 10 DISTRICT JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION. The bill repeals Code 11 section 46.6 relating to judicial officers with equal seniority 12 serving as chairperson of the state judicial nominating 13 commission or a district judicial nominating commission and 14 moves these provisions to new Code sections 46.2A and 46.4A 15 respectively. 16 The bill makes the justice of the supreme court, who is the 17 chairperson of the state judicial nominating commission, a 18 nonvoting, advisory member of the commission unless a vote ends 19 in a tie, in such case the bill provides that the chairperson 20 is eligible to cast the tie-breaking vote. 21 The bill also makes the district judge, who is chairperson 22 of the district judicial nominating commission, a nonvoting, 23 advisory member of the commission unless a vote ends in a 24 tie, in such case, the bill provides that the chairperson is 25 eligible to cast the tie-breaking vote. 26 EFFECTIVE DATE. The bill takes effect upon enactment. 27 -7- LSB 1748YH (7) 84 jm/rj 7/ 7