Senate Study Bill 1200 - Introduced SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED JUDICIAL BRANCH BILL) A BILL FOR An Act relating to judicial branch administration, including 1 judicial officer residency, remote proceedings, court 2 reporter supervision and duties, and civil pleadings 3 availability. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ DIVISION I 1 JUDICIAL OFFICER RESIDENCY 2 Section 1. Section 602.6201, subsection 2, Code 2025, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 2. A district judge must be a resident of the judicial 5 election district or a resident of a county contiguous with the 6 judicial election district in which appointed before assuming 7 office and must be a resident of the judicial election district 8 during the entire term of office. Subject to the provision 9 for reassignment of judges under section 602.6108 , a district 10 judge shall serve in the district of the judges residence 11 appointment while in office, regardless of the number of 12 judgeships to which the district is entitled under the formula 13 prescribed by the supreme court in subsection 3 . 14 Sec. 2. Section 602.6305, subsections 1 and 3, Code 2025, 15 are amended to read as follows: 16 1. District associate judges shall serve initial terms 17 and shall stand for retention in office within the judicial 18 election districts of their residences appointment at the 19 judicial election under sections 46.16 through 46.24 . 20 3. A district associate judge must be a resident of the 21 judicial election district or a resident of a county contiguous 22 with the judicial election district in which the office is held 23 before assuming office and during the entire term of office. 24 A district associate judge shall serve within the judicial 25 district in which appointed, as directed by the chief judge, 26 and is subject to reassignment under section 602.6108 . 27 Sec. 3. Section 602.6404, subsection 1, Code 2025, is 28 amended to read as follows: 29 1. A magistrate shall be a resident of the county of 30 appointment judicial election district or a resident of 31 a county contiguous to the county of appointment judicial 32 election district in which appointed during the magistrates 33 term of office. A magistrate shall serve within the judicial 34 district in which appointed, as directed by the chief judge, 35 -1- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 1/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ provided that the chief judge may assign a magistrate to hold 1 court outside of the county or counties of appointment for the 2 orderly administration of justice. A magistrate is subject to 3 reassignment under section 602.6108 . 4 Sec. 4. Section 602.7103C, subsections 1 and 3, Code 2025, 5 are amended to read as follows: 6 1. Full-time associate juvenile judges shall serve terms 7 and shall stand for retention in office within the judicial 8 election districts of their residences appointment as provided 9 under sections 46.16 through 46.24 . 10 3. A full-time associate juvenile judge must be a resident 11 of the judicial election district or a resident of a county 12 contiguous with the judicial election district in which the 13 office is held before assuming office and during the entire 14 term of office. A full-time associate juvenile judge shall 15 serve within the judicial district in which appointed, as 16 directed by the chief judge, and is subject to reassignment 17 under section 602.6108 . 18 Sec. 5. Section 633.20C, subsections 1 and 3, Code 2025, are 19 amended to read as follows: 20 1. Full-time associate probate judges shall serve terms 21 and shall stand for retention in office within the judicial 22 election districts of their residences appointment as provided 23 under sections 46.16 through 46.24 . 24 3. A full-time associate probate judge must be a resident 25 of the judicial election district or a resident of a county 26 contiguous with the judicial election district in which the 27 office is held before assuming office and during the entire 28 term of office. A full-time associate probate judge shall 29 serve within the judicial district in which appointed, as 30 directed by the chief judge, and is subject to reassignment 31 under section 602.6108 . 32 Sec. 6. REPEAL. Section 602.11110, Code 2025, is repealed. 33 DIVISION II 34 MISCELLANEOUS JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION 35 -2- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 2/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Sec. 7. Section 602.1612, subsection 4, Code 2025, is 1 amended by striking the subsection. 2 Sec. 8. Section 602.3201, Code 2025, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 602.3201 Requirement of certification use of title. 5 A person shall not engage in the profession of shorthand 6 reporting unless the person is certified pursuant to this 7 chapter , or otherwise exempted pursuant to section 602.6603, 8 subsection 4 3 . Only a person who is certified by the board 9 may assume the title of certified shorthand reporter, or use 10 the abbreviation C.S.R., or any words, letters, or figures to 11 indicate that the person is a certified shorthand reporter. 12 Sec. 9. Section 602.6105, subsection 1, Code 2025, is 13 amended to read as follows: 14 1. Courts shall be held at the places in each county 15 maintaining space for the district court as designated by the 16 chief judge of the judicial district, or held by remote means 17 of communication, except that the determination of actions, 18 special proceedings, and other matters not requiring a jury may 19 be done at some other place in the district with the consent of 20 the parties. For the purposes of this subsection , contiguous 21 counties which have entered into an agreement to share costs 22 pursuant to section 331.381, subsection 16 , paragraph b , 23 shall be considered as one unit for the purpose of conducting 24 all matters except as otherwise provided in this subsection . 25 Sec. 10. Section 602.6603, Code 2025, is amended to read as 26 follows: 27 602.6603 Court reporters. 28 1. a. Each district judge shall appoint a The chief judge 29 of a judicial district or the chief judges designee shall have 30 the authority to supervise, schedule, and assign duties to all 31 court reporters in the judicial district. 32 b. Notwithstanding paragraph a , a judge presiding over a 33 proceeding that must be reported shall have the authority to 34 supervise the work of a court reporter while the court reporter 35 -3- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 3/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ is actively engaged in reporting that proceeding. 1 c. The chief judge of a judicial district may delegate the 2 authority set forth in paragraph a to the district court 3 administrator or the district court administrators designee. 4 2. The judicial officers of a judicial district shall 5 appoint a court reporter, subject to approval of the chief 6 judge of the judicial district or the chief judges designee. 7 A court reporter may be assigned to a district judge or the 8 district associate judge subject to subsection 1. A court 9 reporter who shall, upon the request of a party in a civil or 10 criminal case, report the evidence and proceedings in the case, 11 and perform all duties as provided by law. 12 2. Each district associate judge may appoint a court 13 reporter, subject to the approval of the chief judge of the 14 judicial district. 15 3. If a chief judge of a judicial district determines that 16 it is necessary to employ an additional court reporter because 17 of an extraordinary volume of work, or because of the temporary 18 illness or incapacity of a regular court reporter, the chief 19 judge may appoint a temporary court reporter who shall serve 20 as required by the chief judge. 21 4. 3. If a regularly appointed court reporter becomes 22 disabled, or if a vacancy occurs in a regularly appointed 23 court reporter position, the chief judge or the chief 24 judges designee may appoint a competent , uncertified 25 shorthand reporter for a period of time of up to one year, 26 upon verification by the chief judge that a diligent but 27 unsuccessful search has been conducted to appoint a certified 28 shorthand reporter to the position and, in a disability case, 29 that the regularly appointed court reporter is disabled. 30 An uncertified shorthand reporter shall not be reappointed 31 to the position unless the reporter becomes a certified 32 shorthand reporter within the period of appointment under this 33 subsection . 34 5. 4. Except as provided in subsection 4 3 , a person 35 -4- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 4/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ shall not be appointed to the position of court reporter of 1 the district court unless the person has been certified as a 2 shorthand reporter by the board of examiners under article 3 . 3 6. 5. Each court reporter shall take an oath faithfully 4 to perform the duties of office, which shall be filed in the 5 office of the clerk of district court. 6 7. 6. A court reporter may be removed for cause with 7 due process by the judicial officer officers making the 8 appointment , subject to the approval of the chief judge or the 9 chief judges designee . 10 8. 7. If a judge dies, resigns, retires, is removed 11 from office, becomes disabled, or fails to be retained in 12 office and the judicial vacancy is eligible to be filled, the 13 court reporter appointed by the judge shall serve as a court 14 reporter, as directed by the chief judge or the chief judges 15 designee , until the successor judge appoints a successor court 16 reporter . The court reporter shall receive the reporters 17 regular salary and benefits during the period of time until a 18 successor court reporter is appointed or until the currently 19 appointed court reporter is reappointed. 20 Sec. 11. Section 602.8102, subsection 9, Code 2025, is 21 amended to read as follows: 22 9. Enter in the appearance docket a memorandum of the date 23 of filing of all petitions, demurrers, answers, motions, or 24 papers of any other description in the cause. A pleading of 25 any description is considered filed when the clerk entered 26 the date the pleading was received on the pleading and the 27 pleading shall not be taken from the clerks office until the 28 memorandum is made . The memorandum shall be made within two 29 business days of a new petition or order being filed, and as 30 soon as practicable for all other pleadings. Thereafter, when 31 a demurrer or motion is sustained or overruled, a pleading is 32 made or amended, or the trial of the cause, rendition of the 33 verdict, entry of judgment, issuance of execution, or any other 34 act is done in the progress of the cause, a similar memorandum 35 -5- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 5/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ shall be made of the action, including the date of action and 1 the number of the book and page of the record where the entry is 2 made. The appearance docket is an index of each suit from its 3 commencement to its conclusion. 4 Sec. 12. Section 602.9206, subsection 1, Code 2025, is 5 amended to read as follows: 6 1. Section 602.1612 does not apply to a senior judge but 7 does apply to a retired senior judge. During the tenure of 8 a senior judge, if the judge is able to serve, the judge 9 may be assigned by the supreme court to temporary judicial 10 duties on courts of this state without salary for an aggregate 11 of thirteen weeks out of each twelve-month period, and for 12 additional weeks with the judges consent. A senior judge 13 shall not be assigned to judicial duties on the supreme 14 court unless the judge has been appointed to serve on the 15 supreme court prior to retirement. While serving on temporary 16 assignment, a senior judge has and may exercise all of the 17 authority of the office to which the judge is assigned, shall 18 continue to be paid the judges annuity as senior judge, shall 19 be reimbursed for the judges actual expenses to the extent 20 expenses of a district judge are reimbursable under section 21 602.1509 , may, if permitted by the assignment order, appoint a 22 temporary court reporter, who shall be paid the remuneration 23 and reimbursement for actual expenses provided by law for a 24 reporter in the court to which the senior judge is assigned, 25 and, if assigned to the court of appeals or the supreme court, 26 shall be given the assistance of a law clerk and a secretary 27 designated by the court administrator of the judicial branch 28 from the court administrators staff. Each order of temporary 29 assignment shall be filed with the clerks of court at the 30 places where the senior judge is to serve. 31 EXPLANATION 32 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 33 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 34 This bill relates to judicial branch administration, 35 -6- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 6/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ including judicial officer residency, remote proceedings, 1 court reporter supervision and duties, and civil pleadings 2 availability. 3 DIVISION I JUDICIAL OFFICER RESIDENCY. Under current 4 law, a district judge must be a resident of the judicial 5 election district in which appointed during the entire term of 6 office. The bill expands this to include a county contiguous 7 with the judicial election district of appointment. The 8 bill also applies the new residency requirement to district 9 associate judges, magistrates, full-time associate juvenile 10 judges, and full-time associate probate judges. 11 The bill repeals a Code section relating to judge residency 12 requirements for a 1984-1985 transition for judicial election 13 districts 5A and 5C. 14 DIVISION II MISCELLANEOUS JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION. The 15 bill authorizes court proceedings to be held by remote means 16 of communication. 17 The bill amends how court reporters are appointed and 18 supervised. Under current law, a district judge may appoint 19 a court reporter, and a district associate judge may appoint 20 a court reporter subject to approval by the chief judge. A 21 retired justice or judge, or a senior judge, may also appoint a 22 temporary court reporter under current law. Under the bill, 23 the chief judge of the judicial district or the chief judges 24 designee has the authority to supervise, schedule, and assign 25 duties of all court reporters in the judicial district. The 26 bill allows a judge presiding over a reported proceeding to 27 have authority to supervise the work of a court reporter while 28 the court reporter is reporting in that matter. The bill 29 provides that the chief judge may delegate the chief judges 30 authority to appoint, supervise, and assign duties of court 31 reporters to the district court administrator or the district 32 court administrators designee. The bill requires judicial 33 officers of a judicial district to appoint a court reporter, 34 subject to approval of the chief judge of the judicial district 35 -7- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 7/ 8
S.F. _____ H.F. _____ or the chief judges designee. 1 The bill allows the clerk of court to provide access to a 2 civil pleading before a memorandum of the filing date of the 3 pleading for the appearance docket is made. 4 -8- LSB 1370XD (5) 91 cm/ns 8/ 8