Iowa House nixes proposed judicial nomination amendment

April 11, 2011

Iowa: The Iowa House of Representatives voted against a proposal to amend the judicial nomination process for the judges of the Iowa Court of Appeals on April 6, 2011. Only six representatives voted for Rep. Dwayne Alons's amendment to Senate File 326, which would let the governor appoint appellate judges to vacancies on the court, subject to Senate approval. Under the current "merit selection" system, the state Judicial Nominating Commission recommends three nominees for each vacancy, from which the governor chooses one. The Legislature only has the authority to change the judicial nomination process for judges of the Court of Appeals, not for District or Supreme Court judges.

Rep. Alons questioned the objectiveness of the nominating commission since about half of its members are chosen by, what he called, an "elite group" -- the state Bar Association. "Many people in my district and, I believe, many people even all across the state of Iowa are very supportive of us changing the way judges are appointed and selected,” he said. However, 89 representatives disagreed. Rep. Richard Anderson stated, “Any changes to the Judicial Nominating Commission process I think should be done only after very careful and thoughtful work."