S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 602.1215, subsection 1, Code 2011, 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 district, shall by majority vote appoint 6 persons to serve as clerks of the district court within the 7 judicial election district. The district judges of a judicial 8 election district chief judge may appoint a person to serve 9 as clerk of the district court for more than one but not more 10 than four contiguous counties in the same judicial district. 11 A person does not qualify for appointment to the office of 12 clerk of the district court unless the person is at the time of 13 application a resident of the state. A clerk of the district 14 court may be removed from office for cause by a majority vote 15 of the district judges of the chief judge of the judicial 16 election district. Before Prior to removal, the clerk of the 17 district court shall be notified of the cause for removal. 18 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 602.2301 Judicial officer appointment 19 —— delay. 20 1. Notwithstanding section 46.12, the chief justice 21 may order the state commissioner of elections to delay, for 22 budgetary reasons, the sending of a notification to the proper 23 judicial nominating commission that a vacancy in the supreme 24 court, court of appeals, or district court has occurred or will 25 occur. 26 2. Notwithstanding sections 602.6304, 602.7103B, and 27 633.20B, the chief justice may order any county magistrate 28 appointing commission to delay, for budgetary reasons, 29 publicizing the notice of a vacancy for a district associate 30 judgeship, associate juvenile judgeship, or associate probate 31 judgeship. 32 3. Notwithstanding section 602.6403, subsection 3, if a 33 magistrate position is vacant due to a death, resignation, 34 retirement, an increase in the number of positions authorized, 35 -1- LSB 1281DP (3) 84 jm/rj 1/ 6

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ or to the removal of a magistrate, the chief justice may order 1 any county magistrate appointing commission to delay, for 2 budgetary reasons, the appointment of a magistrate to serve the 3 remainder of an unexpired term. 4 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 602.6113 Apportionment of certain 5 judicial officers —— substantial disparity. 6 Notwithstanding section 602.6201, 602.6301, 602.6304, 7 602.7103B, or 633.20B, if a vacancy occurs in the office of a 8 district judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile 9 judge, or associate probate judge, and the chief justice of 10 the supreme court makes a finding that a substantial disparity 11 exists in the allocation of such judgeships and judicial 12 workload between judicial election districts, the chief 13 justice may apportion the vacant office from the judicial 14 election district where the vacancy occurs to another judicial 15 election district based upon the substantial disparity finding. 16 However, such a judgeship shall not be apportioned pursuant 17 to this section unless a majority of the judicial council 18 approves the apportionment. This section does not apply to a 19 district associate judge office authorized by section 602.6302 20 or 602.6307. 21 Sec. 4. Section 602.6305, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2011, 22 are amended to read as follows: 23 2. A person does not qualify for appointment to the office 24 of district associate judge unless the person is at the time of 25 appointment a resident of the county judicial election district 26 in which the vacancy exists, licensed to practice law in Iowa, 27 and will be able, measured by the person’s age at the time of 28 appointment, to complete the initial term of office prior to 29 reaching age seventy-two. An applicant for district associate 30 judge shall file a certified application form, to be provided 31 by the supreme court, with the chairperson of the county 32 magistrate appointing commission. 33 3. A district associate judge must be a resident of a county 34 the judicial election district in which the office is held 35 -2- LSB 1281DP (3) 84 jm/rj 2/ 6

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ during the entire term of office. A district associate judge 1 shall serve within the judicial district in which appointed, 2 as directed by the chief judge, and is subject to reassignment 3 under section 602.6108 . 4 Sec. 5. Section 602.6401, subsection 2, Code 2011, is 5 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 6 NEW PARAGRAPH . e. A case-related workload formula. 7 Sec. 6. Section 602.6404, subsection 1, Code 2011, is 8 amended to read as follows: 9 1. A magistrate shall be a resident of the county of 10 appointment or a resident of a county contiguous to the county 11 of appointment during the magistrate’s term of office. A 12 magistrate shall serve within the judicial district in which 13 appointed, as directed by the chief judge, provided that the 14 chief judge may assign a magistrate to hold court outside of 15 the county of the magistrate’s residence appointment for the 16 orderly administration of justice. A magistrate is subject to 17 reassignment under section 602.6108 . 18 Sec. 7. Section 602.9203, subsection 1, Code 2011, is 19 amended to read as follows: 20 1. A supreme court judge, court of appeals judge, district 21 judge, district associate judge, full-time associate juvenile 22 judge, or full-time associate probate judge, who qualifies 23 under subsection 2 may become a senior judge by filing with 24 the clerk of the supreme court a written election in the form 25 specified by the court administrator supreme court . The 26 election shall be filed within six months of the date of 27 retirement. 28 Sec. 8. Section 602.9203, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 29 2011, is amended to read as follows: 30 c. Agrees in writing on a form prescribed by the court 31 administrator supreme court to be available as long as the 32 judicial officer is a senior judge to perform judicial duties 33 as assigned by the supreme court for an aggregate period of 34 thirteen weeks out of each successive twelve-month period. 35 -3- LSB 1281DP (3) 84 jm/rj 3/ 6

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Sec. 9. Section 602.9203, subsection 5, paragraph b, Code 1 2011, is amended to read as follows: 2 b. A senior judge may be reappointed to an additional 3 two-year a one-year term upon attaining seventy-eight years of 4 age and to a succeeding one-year term , at the discretion of the 5 supreme court, if the judicial officer meets the requirements 6 of subsection 2 . 7 EXPLANATION 8 This bill relates to the appointment of judicial officers, 9 senior judges, and clerks of the district court. 10 The bill creates new Code section 602.2301 granting 11 authority to the chief justice to delay the nomination of 12 a supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, district 13 judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, 14 or associate probate judge for budgetary reasons. New Code 15 section 602.2301 also grants authority to the chief justice to 16 delay the appointment of a magistrate to serve the remainder 17 of an unexpired term, if the vacancy is due to a death, 18 resignation, retirement, an increase in the number of positions 19 authorized, or to the removal of a magistrate. New Code 20 section 602.2301 does not grant authority to the chief justice 21 to delay the appointment of magistrates when all magistrates’ 22 terms expire pursuant to Code section 602.6403(1). 23 The amendment to Code section 602.1215 changes the method 24 by which the clerk of the district court is appointed. The 25 amendment permits the chief judge of each judicial district to 26 appoint the clerk of the district court and remove the clerk 27 for cause after consultation with the district judges of the 28 judicial district. The clerk under current law is appointed by 29 a majority vote of all district judges in the judicial election 30 district, and removed by a majority vote. 31 The bill creates new Code section 602.6113 authorizing the 32 chief justice to apportion a vacancy in the office of district 33 judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, or 34 associate probate judge, from the judicial election district 35 -4- LSB 1281DP (3) 84 jm/rj 4/ 6

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ where the vacancy occurs to another judicial election district. 1 An apportionment from one judicial election district to another 2 judicial election district shall not occur under the bill, 3 unless the chief justice finds a substantial disparity exists 4 in the allocation of judgeships and judicial workload between 5 judicial election districts, and a majority of the judicial 6 council approves the apportionment. Current law does not 7 permit the chief justice and the judicial council to apportion 8 vacant judgeships across judicial election district boundaries. 9 The amendment to Code section 602.6305 requires a district 10 associate judge to reside in the judicial election district 11 at the time of appointment and throughout the entire term of 12 office. Currently, a district associate judge is required to 13 reside in the county where the vacancy exists at the time of 14 appointment and throughout the entire term of office. 15 The amendment to Code section 602.6401(2) modifies the 16 criteria used by the state court administrator to apportion 17 magistrates throughout the state. Under the bill, the state 18 court administrator must also consider a case-related workload 19 formula in addition to the other criteria listed in Code 20 section 602.6401(2). 21 The amendment to Code section 602.6404(1) allows a 22 magistrate to be a resident of a county contiguous to the 23 county of appointment during the magistrate’s term of office. 24 The bill permits the chief judge to assign a magistrate to hold 25 court outside of the magistrate’s county of appointment for the 26 orderly administration of justice. 27 The amendments to Code section 602.9203(1) and (2) require 28 senior judge written forms to be prescribed by the supreme 29 court. Currently, the court administrator prescribes the 30 forms. 31 The amendment to Code section 602.9203(5) specifies that 32 a senior judge, upon attaining the age of 78, may serve a 33 one-year term and a succeeding one-year term at the discretion 34 of the supreme court. Currently, a senior judge, upon 35 -5- LSB 1281DP (3) 84 jm/rj 5/ 6