The Iowa Senate has passed a bill that would give the governor authority to appoint a majority of the people who serve on commissions that nominate district court judges.
Five attorneys chosen by local lawyers and five people appointed by the governor serve on the commissions, and the senior judge in each district serves as chair. Republican Senator Julian Garrett of Indianola said those judges have too much influence and the governor should appoint that 11th member.
“You’ve got five attorneys on the commission and they practice before that judge and their bread and butter is affected by their relationship with that judge,” Garrett said.
The commissions review applications and submit two finalists to the governor, who appoints one — or rejects both and tells the commission to start over. Senator Herman Quirmbach (KWIRM-bawk) of Ames and other Democrats opposed removing the judge from the nominating process.
“The bill tends to continue the movement in the direction of politicizing the judiciary,” Quirmbach said. “This is something I’m always concerned about, no matter who is in control.”
The bill passed the Senate on a 31-15 vote.
n 2019, the legislature gave the governor the majority of appointments to the commission that picks nominees for the Iowa Supreme Court by removing the senior Supreme Court justice from the panel, but did not make the change at the district court level. In 2021, members of a northern Iowa nominating commission accused the district court judge leading the panel of making unprofessional comments about some applicants and falsely claiming one applicant had withdrawn.