S.F. 326 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 602.2301 Judicial officer 1 appointment —— delay. 2 1. Notwithstanding section 46.12, the chief justice 3 may order the state commissioner of elections to delay, for 4 budgetary reasons, the sending of a notification to the proper 5 judicial nominating commission that a vacancy in the supreme 6 court, court of appeals, or district court has occurred or will 7 occur. 8 2. Notwithstanding sections 602.6304, 602.7103B, and 9 633.20B, the chief justice may order any county magistrate 10 appointing commission to delay, for budgetary reasons, 11 publicizing the notice of a vacancy for a district associate 12 judgeship, associate juvenile judgeship, or associate probate 13 judgeship. 14 3. Notwithstanding section 602.6403, subsection 3, if a 15 magistrate position is vacant due to a death, resignation, 16 retirement, an increase in the number of positions authorized, 17 or to the removal of a magistrate, the chief justice may order 18 any county magistrate appointing commission to delay, for 19 budgetary reasons, the appointment of a magistrate to serve the 20 remainder of an unexpired term. 21 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 602.6113 Apportionment of certain 22 judicial officers —— substantial disparity. 23 Notwithstanding section 602.6201, 602.6301, 602.6304, 24 602.7103B, or 633.20B, if a vacancy occurs in the office of a 25 district judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile 26 judge, or associate probate judge, and the chief justice of 27 the supreme court makes a finding that a substantial disparity 28 exists in the allocation of such judgeships and judicial 29 workload between judicial election districts, the chief 30 justice may apportion the vacant office from the judicial 31 election district where the vacancy occurs to another judicial 32 election district based upon the substantial disparity finding. 33 However, such a judgeship shall not be apportioned pursuant 34 to this section unless a majority of the judicial council 35 -1- LSB 1281SV (2) 84 jm/rj 1/ 5

S.F. 326 approves the apportionment. This section does not apply to a 1 district associate judge office authorized by section 602.6302 2 or 602.6307. 3 Sec. 3. Section 602.6305, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2011, 4 are amended to read as follows: 5 2. A person does not qualify for appointment to the office 6 of district associate judge unless the person is at the time of 7 appointment a resident of the county judicial election district 8 in which the vacancy exists, licensed to practice law in Iowa, 9 and will be able, measured by the person’s age at the time of 10 appointment, to complete the initial term of office prior to 11 reaching age seventy-two. An applicant for district associate 12 judge shall file a certified application form, to be provided 13 by the supreme court, with the chairperson of the county 14 magistrate appointing commission. 15 3. A district associate judge must be a resident of a county 16 the judicial election district in which the office is held 17 during the entire term of office. A district associate judge 18 shall serve within the judicial district in which appointed, 19 as directed by the chief judge, and is subject to reassignment 20 under section 602.6108 . 21 Sec. 4. Section 602.6401, subsection 2, Code 2011, is 22 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 23 NEW PARAGRAPH . e. A case-related workload formula. 24 Sec. 5. Section 602.6404, subsection 1, Code 2011, is 25 amended to read as follows: 26 1. A magistrate shall be a resident of the county of 27 appointment or a resident of a county contiguous to the county 28 of appointment during the magistrate’s term of office. A 29 magistrate shall serve within the judicial district in which 30 appointed, as directed by the chief judge, provided that the 31 chief judge may assign a magistrate to hold court outside of 32 the county of the magistrate’s residence appointment for the 33 orderly administration of justice. A magistrate is subject to 34 reassignment under section 602.6108 . 35 -2- LSB 1281SV (2) 84 jm/rj 2/ 5

S.F. 326 Sec. 6. Section 602.9203, subsection 1, Code 2011, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. A supreme court judge, court of appeals judge, district 3 judge, district associate judge, full-time associate juvenile 4 judge, or full-time associate probate judge, who qualifies 5 under subsection 2 may become a senior judge by filing with 6 the clerk of the supreme court a written election in the form 7 specified by the court administrator supreme court . The 8 election shall be filed within six months of the date of 9 retirement. 10 Sec. 7. Section 602.9203, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 11 2011, is amended to read as follows: 12 c. Agrees in writing on a form prescribed by the court 13 administrator supreme court to be available as long as the 14 judicial officer is a senior judge to perform judicial duties 15 as assigned by the supreme court for an aggregate period of 16 thirteen weeks out of each successive twelve-month period. 17 Sec. 8. Section 602.9203, subsection 5, paragraph b, Code 18 2011, is amended to read as follows: 19 b. A senior judge may be reappointed to an additional 20 two-year a one-year term upon attaining seventy-eight years of 21 age and to a succeeding one-year term , at the discretion of the 22 supreme court, if the judicial officer meets the requirements 23 of subsection 2 . 24 EXPLANATION 25 This bill relates to the appointment of judicial officers 26 and senior judges. 27 The bill creates new Code section 602.2301 granting 28 authority to the chief justice to delay the nomination of 29 a supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, district 30 judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, 31 or associate probate judge for budgetary reasons. New Code 32 section 602.2301 also grants authority to the chief justice to 33 delay the appointment of a magistrate to serve the remainder 34 of an unexpired term, if the vacancy is due to a death, 35 -3- LSB 1281SV (2) 84 jm/rj 3/ 5

S.F. 326 resignation, retirement, an increase in the number of positions 1 authorized, or to the removal of a magistrate. New Code 2 section 602.2301 does not grant authority to the chief justice 3 to delay the appointment of magistrates when all magistrates’ 4 terms expire pursuant to Code section 602.6403(1). 5 The bill creates new Code section 602.6113 authorizing the 6 chief justice to apportion a vacancy in the office of district 7 judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, or 8 associate probate judge, from the judicial election district 9 where the vacancy occurs to another judicial election district. 10 An apportionment from one judicial election district to another 11 judicial election district shall not occur under the bill, 12 unless the chief justice finds a substantial disparity exists 13 in the allocation of judgeships and judicial workload between 14 judicial election districts, and a majority of the judicial 15 council approves the apportionment. Current law does not 16 permit the chief justice and the judicial council to apportion 17 vacant judgeships across judicial election district boundaries. 18 The amendment to Code section 602.6305 requires a district 19 associate judge to reside in the judicial election district 20 at the time of appointment and throughout the entire term of 21 office. Currently, a district associate judge is required to 22 reside in the county where the vacancy exists at the time of 23 appointment and throughout the entire term of office. 24 The amendment to Code section 602.6401(2) modifies the 25 criteria used by the state court administrator to apportion 26 magistrates throughout the state. Under the bill, the state 27 court administrator must also consider a case-related workload 28 formula in addition to the other criteria listed in Code 29 section 602.6401(2). 30 The amendment to Code section 602.6404(1) allows a 31 magistrate to be a resident of a county contiguous to the 32 county of appointment during the magistrate’s term of office. 33 The bill permits the chief judge to assign a magistrate to hold 34 court outside of the magistrate’s county of appointment for the 35 -4- LSB 1281SV (2) 84 jm/rj 4/ 5

S.F. 326 orderly administration of justice. 1 The amendments to Code section 602.9203(1) and (2) require 2 senior judge written forms to be prescribed by the supreme 3 court. Currently, the court administrator prescribes the 4 forms. 5 The amendment to Code section 602.9203(5) specifies that 6 a senior judge, upon attaining the age of 78, may serve a 7 one-year term and a succeeding one-year term at the discretion 8 of the supreme court. Currently, a senior judge, upon 9 attaining the age of 78, may serve a two-year term at the 10 discretion of the supreme court. 11 -5- LSB 1281SV (2) 84 jm/rj 5/ 5