Senate File 2317 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2317 BY GARRETT A BILL FOR An Act relating to state and district judicial nominating 1 commissions and county magistrate appointing commissions. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 6236XS (5) 90 cm/ns
S.F. 2317 Section 1. Section 46.1, Code 2024, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 46.1 Appointment of state judicial nominating commissioners. 3 1. The governor shall appoint, subject to confirmation 4 by the senate, nine seventeen eligible electors to the state 5 judicial nominating commission. 6 2. The appointments made by the governor shall be 7 staggered terms of six years each , and shall begin and end in 8 even-numbered years as provided in section 69.19 . The terms 9 of no more than three nor less than two of the commissioners 10 shall expire within the same two-year period. The terms of 11 nine commissioners shall begin and end in even-numbered years, 12 and the terms of eight commissioners shall begin and end in 13 odd-numbered years. 14 3. No more than a simple majority of the commissioners 15 appointed by the governor shall be of the same gender. 16 4. 3. All commissioners shall be chosen without reference 17 to political affiliation. 18 5. 4. There shall be at least one commissioner four 19 commissioners appointed by the governor from each congressional 20 district and there shall not be more than two commissioners 21 appointed by the governor from a single congressional 22 district unless each congressional district has at least two 23 commissioners appointed by the governor . The governor shall 24 appoint one commissioner from the state at large. 25 6. 5. A commissioner who has served a full six-year 26 term on the state judicial nominating commission , whether the 27 commissioner was appointed or elected, shall be ineligible to 28 be appointed to a second six-year term. 29 7. 6. No A person may shall not be appointed who holds an 30 office of profit of the United States or of the state at the 31 time of appointment. 32 Sec. 2. Section 46.3, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended 33 to read as follows: 34 1. The governor shall appoint five seven eligible electors 35 -1- LSB 6236XS (5) 90 cm/ns 1/ 5
S.F. 2317 of each judicial election district to the district judicial 1 nominating commission. 2 Sec. 3. Section 46.3, subsections 3 and 4, Code 2024, are 3 amended by striking the subsections. 4 Sec. 4. Section 46.3, Code 2024, is amended by adding the 5 following new subsection: 6 NEW SUBSECTION . 5. At least one commissioner shall be 7 licensed to practice law in the courts of this state. A person 8 shall not be appointed who holds an office of profit of the 9 United States or of the state at the time of appointment. 10 Sec. 5. Section 46.5, subsection 3, Code 2024, is amended by 11 striking the subsection. 12 Sec. 6. Section 46.5, subsections 4, 5, and 6, Code 2024, 13 are amended to read as follows: 14 4. If a vacancy occurs in the office of chairperson of 15 the state judicial nominating commission, the members of the 16 commission shall elect a new chairperson as provided in section 17 46.6 . If a vacancy occurs in the office of chairperson of a 18 district judicial nominating commission or in the absence of 19 the chairperson, the members of the particular commission shall 20 elect a temporary chairperson from their own number. 21 5. Notwithstanding section 69.1A , appointed and elected 22 commissioners on the state and district judicial nominating 23 commissions shall not hold over until their successor is 24 appointed or elected and qualified . 25 6. All judicial nominating commissioners , including 26 those elected by the bar, shall be subject to removal by 27 the executive council in the same manner as appointive state 28 officers under section 66.26 . When the status of a judicial 29 nominating commissioner is in question, the governor shall be 30 the officer responsible for deciding whether a vacancy exists 31 under section 69.2 . 32 Sec. 7. Section 46.6, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended 33 to read as follows: 34 1. The commissioners of the state or district judicial 35 -2- LSB 6236XS (5) 90 cm/ns 2/ 5
S.F. 2317 nominating commission shall elect a chairperson from their 1 own number. The chairperson shall serve a two-year term that 2 expires on April 30 of even-numbered years. A commissioner 3 may be reelected for a second or third term as chairperson. 4 If a chairperson of a judicial nominating commission desires 5 to be relieved of the duties of chairperson while retaining 6 the status of commissioner, the chairperson shall notify the 7 governor and the other commissioners of the commission. At the 8 next meeting of the commission, the commissioners shall elect a 9 new chairperson for the remainder of the two-year term. 10 Sec. 8. Section 46.6, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended by 11 striking the subsection. 12 Sec. 9. Section 602.6501, subsection 1, Code 2024, is 13 amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu 14 thereof the following: 15 1. A magistrate appointing commission is established in 16 each county. The commission shall be composed of three members 17 appointed by the board of supervisors. 18 Sec. 10. Section 602.6503, Code 2024, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 602.6503 Commissioners appointed by a county. 21 1. The board of supervisors of each county shall appoint 22 three electors to the magistrate appointing commission for 23 the county for six-year terms beginning January 1, 1979, and 24 each sixth year thereafter . However, if there is only one 25 attorney elected pursuant to section 602.6504 , the county board 26 of supervisors shall only appoint two commissioners, and if 27 no attorney is elected, the board of supervisors shall only 28 appoint one commissioner. 29 2. The board of supervisors shall not appoint an attorney or 30 an active law enforcement officer to serve as a commissioner. 31 3. The county auditor shall certify to the clerk of the 32 district court the name, address, and expiration date of term 33 for all appointees of the board of supervisors. 34 Sec. 11. Section 602.8102, subsection 14, Code 2024, is 35 -3- LSB 6236XS (5) 90 cm/ns 3/ 5
S.F. 2317 amended to read as follows: 1 14. Maintain a bar admission list as provided in section 2 46.8 . 3 Sec. 12. REPEAL. Sections 46.2, 46.4, 46.7, 46.8, 46.9, 4 46.9A, 46.10, 46.11, 602.6504, and 602.11111, Code 2024, are 5 repealed. 6 EXPLANATION 7 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 8 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 9 This bill relates to state and district judicial nominating 10 commissions and county magistrate appointing commissions. 11 The bill provides that the governor shall appoint all the 12 commissioners to state and district commissions. 13 For the state commission, of the 17 commissioners, the 14 governor shall appoint at least four commissioners from each 15 congressional district and one commissioner from the state at 16 large. The terms for nine of the commissioners shall begin and 17 end in even-numbered years, and eight shall begin and end in 18 odd-numbered years. Under current law, the governor appoints 19 nine persons to the state commission and resident members of 20 the bar of each congressional district elect two persons of 21 different genders to the commission. 22 Under current law, the members of the bar of each 23 judicial election district elect five commissioners to that 24 districts commission and the governor appoints another five 25 commissioners. The most senior judge in the district serves as 26 chairperson. The bill decreases the number of commissioners on 27 a district commission from 11 to seven, including by removing 28 the most senior judge in the district from the commission. 29 The bill requires that at least one member of the district 30 commission be a licensed attorney in this state. 31 The bill removes the gender balance requirement for state 32 and district commissions. 33 Under current law, a county magistrate appointing commission 34 is comprised of up to six members: a district judge designated 35 -4- LSB 6236XS (5) 90 cm/ns 4/ 5
S.F. 2317 by the chief judge of the judicial district, up to three 1 members appointed by the board of supervisors, and up to two 2 attorneys elected by attorneys in the county. The bill reduces 3 the number of members on a county commission to three members 4 appointed by the board of supervisors. 5 The bill makes conforming changes to Code chapter 602 6 (judicial branch). 7 The bill repeals the following Code sections: 46.2 8 (election of state judicial nominating commissioners), 46.4 9 (election of district judicial nominating commissioners), 46.7 10 (eligibility to vote), 46.8 (certified list), 46.9 (conduct 11 of elections), 46.9A (notice preceding nomination of elective 12 nominating commissioners), 46.10 (nomination of elective 13 judicial nominating commissioners), 46.11 (certification of 14 commissioners), 605.6504 (commissioners elected by attorneys), 15 and 602.11111 (judicial nominating commissions for election 16 districts 5A and 5C). 17 -5- LSB 6236XS (5) 90 cm/ns 5/ 5