HF 2289 (LSB 5013HV (4) 84)

HOUSE FILE 2289

BY  COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 2002)

(As Amended and Passed by the House 2012-03-12)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the appointment of certain judicial officers and the clerks of the district court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 46.14, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   46.14  Nomination —— residence.
   1.  Each judicial nominating commission shall carefully consider the individuals available for judge, and within sixty days after receiving notice of a vacancy shall certify to the governor and the chief justice the proper number of nominees, in alphabetical order. Such nominees shall be chosen by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full statutory number of commissioners upon the basis of their qualifications and without regard to political affiliation. Nominees shall be members of the bar of Iowa, shall be residents of the state or district of the court to which they are nominated, and shall be of such age that they will be able to serve an initial and one regular term of office to which they are nominated before reaching the age of seventy-two years. Nominees for district judge shall file a certified application form, to be provided by the supreme court, with the chairperson of the district judicial nominating commission. Absence of a commissioner or vacancy upon the commission shall not invalidate a nomination. The chairperson of the commission shall promptly certify the names of the nominees, in alphabetical order, to the governor and the chief justice.
   2.  An applicant for district judge shall file a certified application form, to be provided by the supreme court, with the chairperson of the district judicial nominating commission. A district judge appointee shall be a resident of the judicial district before assuming office or, if the judicial district is divided into judicial election districts, the appointee shall be a resident of the judicial election district where the nomination occurred before assuming office. 
   2.3.  A commissioner shall not be eligible for nomination by the commission during the term for which the commissioner was elected or appointed to that commission. A commissioner shall not be eligible to vote for the nomination of a family member, current law partner, or current business partner. For purposes of this subsection, “family member” means a spouse, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister.
    Sec. 2.  Section 602.1215, Subsection 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   602.1215  Clerk of the district court.
   1.  Subject to the provisions of section 602.1209, subsection 3, the district judges of each
 
chief judge of the judicial election district, after consultation with the district judges of the district, shall by majority vote appoint persons to serve as clerks of the district court within the judicial election district. The district judges of a judicial election district
 
chief judge may appoint a person to serve as clerk of the district court for more than one but not more than four contiguous counties in the same judicial district. A person does not qualify for appointment to the office of clerk of the district court unless the person is at the time of application a resident of the state. A clerk of the district court may be removed from office for cause by a majority vote of the district judges of the
 
chief judge of the judicial election district. Before
 
Prior to removal, the clerk of the district court shall be notified of the cause for removal.
    Sec. 3.  Section 602.7103C, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2011, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  A person does not qualify for appointment to the office of full-time associate juvenile judge unless the person is at the time of appointment a resident of the county
 
judicial election district in which the vacancy exists, licensed to practice law in Iowa, and will be able, measured by the person’s age at the time of appointment, to complete the initial term of office prior to reaching age seventy-two. An applicant for full-time associate juvenile judge shall file a certified application form, to be provided by the supreme court, with the chairperson of the county magistrate appointing commission.
   3.  A full-time associate juvenile judge must be a resident of a county
 
the judicial election district in which the office is held during the entire term of office. A full-time associate juvenile judge shall serve within the judicial district in which appointed, as directed by the chief judge, and is subject to reassignment under section 602.6108.