What is more critical to your practice than the quality of the judges who preside over your cases? District Judicial Nominating Commissions are responsible for screening applicants and selecting nominees for district court judicial vacancies. Please consider submitting your nominating petition to serve as a District Judicial Nominating Commissioner.
The nomination process for the statewide openings began earlier this month, including seeking signatures for a nominating petition. People nominated who win in the January election will serve six-year terms on the local commissions that appoint district court judges.
The deadline to apply for Iowa's District Judicial Nominating Commissions is Dec. 29. Nominating petitions are currently being accepted for all judicial election districts in Iowa. Attorneys who want their names listed on the ballot to fill state and district nominating commissioner positions can submit their nominating petitions to dist.nominating.commis@iowacourts.gov or the State Court Administration Office at 1111 East Court Ave., Des Moines.
Voting by eligible members of the Iowa bar will begin on Jan. 5, 2024. For more information, please see the official notice. More information can be found on the Judicial Nominating Commission webpage.
District Judicial Nominating Commissions
A nominating commission exists for each of Iowa's 14 judicial election sub-districts. Each district commission has 11 members, including a chair, who is the most senior district court judge in the district, five members elected by lawyers, and five nonlawyer members appointed by the governor. Each commissioner, except the chair, serves a six-year term. District Judicial Nominating Commissions provide the governor with a slate of two nominees from which to make an appointment to the district court.
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