House Study Bill 87 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON ANDERSON) A BILL FOR An Act relating to elections or appointments to a county 1 magistrate appointing commission. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2021YC (1) 84 jm/rj
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 602.6502, Code 2011, is amended to read 1 as follows: 2 602.6502 Prohibitions to appointment. 3 A member of a county magistrate appointing commission 4 shall not be appointed to the office of magistrate, and shall 5 not be nominated for or appointed to the office of district 6 associate judge, office of associate juvenile judge, or office 7 of associate probate judge. A member of the commission shall 8 not be eligible to vote for the appointment or nomination of 9 a family member, current law partner, or current business 10 partner , or current member of the same office . For purposes 11 of this section , “family member” means a spouse, son, daughter, 12 brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, 13 father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, 14 brother-in-law, sister-in-law, father, mother, stepfather, 15 stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, 16 half brother, or half sister. 17 Sec. 2. Section 602.6503, subsection 2, Code 2011, is 18 amended to read as follows: 19 2. The board of supervisors shall not appoint an attorney or 20 an active law enforcement officer to serve as a commissioner. 21 Sec. 3. Section 602.6504, subsection 2, Code 2011, is 22 amended to read as follows: 23 2. A Notwithstanding section 39.11 or any other law or rule 24 to the contrary, a county attorney shall not may be elected to 25 the commission. 26 EXPLANATION 27 This bill relates to the election or appointment to a county 28 magistrate appointing commission. 29 The bill allows the board of supervisors to appoint an 30 active law enforcement officer to serve as a commissioner 31 on a magistrate appointing commission. Currently, such an 32 appointment is prohibited. 33 The bill also provides that a county attorney may be elected 34 to serve on a county magistrate appointing commission. Current 35 -1- LSB 2021YC (1) 84 jm/rj 1/ 2
H.F. _____ law prohibits a county attorney from being elected to the 1 commission. 2 The bill makes a commissioner of a county magistrate 3 appointment commission ineligible to vote for the appointment 4 or nomination of a current member of the commissioner’s same 5 office. Current law provides that a commissioner is ineligible 6 to vote for the appointment or nomination of a family member, 7 current law partner, or current business partner. 8 A county magistrate commission appoints the magistrates 9 authorized for each county pursuant to Code section 602.6403. 10 A county magistrate commission consists of a district judge, 11 three commissioners appointed by the county supervisors, and 12 two commissioners elected by the attorneys residing in the 13 county. 14 -2- LSB 2021YC (1) 84 jm/rj 2/ 2