DES MOINES, IOWA (March 21, 2019) — Today, the State of Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission posted the interview schedule for the thirty Iowans who have applied to fill the two vacancies on the Iowa Court of Appeals that occurred when Chief Judge David Danilson retired on January 4, 2019, and Judge Christopher McDonald filled the Supreme Court vacancy on March 7, 2019.
The commission will meet Thursday, March 28, and Friday, March 29, in the Iowa Supreme Court Courtroom on the fourth floor of the Judicial Branch Building to interview the applicants for the vacancies. The interview schedule with each candidate’s application is posted on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website. The public is invited to observe the interviews in the courtroom. The interviews will be live-streamed and the videos archived on the Iowa Judicial Branch YouTube channel.
Immediately following the interviews, the commission will begin deliberations to select a slate of six nominees from the group of applicants. Once the commission selects its slate of nominees, the commission will forward those names to the governor. The governor will then have thirty (30) days in which to appoint the new judges.
The commission welcomes written comments from the public about the qualifications of any of the applicants. Comments must be submitted to the secretary of the commission by 4:30PM, March 24, 2019. Comments may be emailed to appellate.vacancy@iowacourts.gov. Comments may also be mailed to the Iowa State Judicial Nominating Commission Secretary, 1111 E. Court Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50319.
The 17-member commission is composed of a chair, who is the senior justice of the supreme court other than the chief justice, eight lawyer commissioners elected by lawyers licensed to practice law in Iowa, and eight commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate. The names of the commissioners are on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website.
With the exception of the commission chair, membership on the commission is limited to one six-year term. Terms are staggered. The Iowa Constitution requires that commission members be chosen without regard to political affiliation. For more information about Iowa's process for selecting judges, visit the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website.
