§ Iowa Code § 46.14Nomination

46.14 Nomination.
1. Each judicial nominating commission shall carefully consider the individuals available
for judge, and within sixty days after receiving notice of a vacancy shall certify to the
governor and the chief justice the proper number of nominees, in alphabetical order. Such
nominees shall be chosen by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full statutory number of
commissioners upon the basis of their qualifications and without regard to political affiliation.
Nominees shall be members of the bar of Iowa, shall be residents of the state or district of the
court or a county contiguous with the district to which they are nominated, and shall be of
such age that they will be able to serve an initial and one regular term of office to which they
are nominated before reaching the age of seventy-eight years. Absence of a commissioner
or vacancy upon the commission shall not invalidate a nomination. The chairperson of the
commission shall promptly certify the names of the nominees, in alphabetical order, to the
governor and the chief justice by sending by electronic mail the certification to the governor
and chief justice or the governor’s and chief justice’s designees on the day of the nomination.
2. A commissioner shall not be eligible for nomination by the commission during the term
for which the commissioner was elected or appointed to that commission. A commissioner
shall not be eligible to vote for the nomination of a family member, current law partner,
or current business partner. For purposes of this subsection, “family member” means a
spouse, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, father, mother,
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half
sister.
Vacancies in courts and number of nominees, Iowa Constitution, Art. V, §15
2025 amendment to subsection 1 applies to judicial officers retiring on or after July 1, 2025; 2025 Acts, ch 101, §15
Subsection 1 amended