Iowa gears up for appellate and district court appointments

May 7, 2011

Iowa: The Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission is keeping busy with two court vacancies and the addition of a new member. They have nominated two finalists for District Court 1B and will be interviewing 26 applicants to the Court of Appeals.

Jim Kersten was nominated to the state Judicial Nominating Commission by the Governor on April 19, 2011 and was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate for a six-year term that ends after April 30, 2017. Kersten is the vice president of external affairs and government relations at Iowa Central Community College. He is also a former state senator.

Jordan Dryer and David Odekirk have been selected by the Commission as finalists to fill the vacancy on Iowa District 1B created by Judge Bruce Zager's appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court. The Governor has thirty days to choose between the two candidates. Dryer currently works as an assistant public defender in Waterloo. Odekirk is a private practice lawyer with the firm of Dunakey & Klatt.

26 people have applied to replace Edward Mansfield, now a Supreme Court Justice, on the Iowa Court of Appeals. The Commission will interview this group of candidates, made up of various attorneys, judges and magistrates, on May 9th and 10th, 2011. The applicants are: Charles Ament Craig, Steven August Berger, John William Bernau, Nathan Alden Callahan, Susan Christensen, George F. Davison, Jr., Diane Dornburg, Thomas James Duff, Sharon Soorholtz Greer, David J. Hanson, Peter Christopher Hart, Patrick J. Hopkins, Michael Ray Keller, Bruce Kempkes, David L Leitner, Kellyann Lekar, Don Richard McGuire, Jr., James Paul Moriarty, Michael R. Mullins, Iris J. Post, Elisabeth S. Reynoldson, Frank Cal Tenuta, Janece Valentine, Jeanie Kunkle Vaudt, and ConGarry D. Williams.