DES MOINES – Thirty Iowans have applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the two vacancies on the Iowa Court of Appeals that occurred when Chief Judge David Danilson retired on Jan. 4, 2019 and Judge Christopher McDonald filled the Supreme Court vacancy on March 7, 2019.
The nominating commission will meet Wednesday, 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 vacancy. An interview schedule will be 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 judge.
Each applicant’s application is posted on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website.
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 the conclusion of all of the interviews. 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.
The applicants for the court are:
Paul Ahlers, District Associate Judge, Second Judicial District, Fort Dodge
Joel Barrows, District Court Judge, Seventh Judicial District, Bettendorf
Romonda Belcher, District Associate Judge, Fifth Judicial District, Des Moines
Mary Chicchelly, District Court Judge, Sixth Judicial District, Cedar Rapids
Rustin Davenport, District Court Judge, Second Judicial District, Mason City
Jean Dickson, Attorney, Betty, Neuman & McMahon, P.L.C., Bettendorf
Keith Duffy, Attorney, Nyemaster Goode, P.C., Des Moines
David Faith, Assistant United States Attorney, US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Iowa, Indianola
Timothy Gartin, Attorney, Hastings, Gartin & Boettger, LLP, Ames
Myron Gookin, District Court Judge, Eighth Judicial District, Fairfield
CeCelia Ibson, Attorney, Ibson Law Firm, Des Moines
Andrew Kahl, Assistant United States Attorney, US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Iowa, Des Moines
Gretchen Kraemer, Assistant Attorney General, Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Johnston
Henry Latham II, District Court Judge, Scott County Courthouse, Eldridge
Christine Lebron-Dykeman, Attorney, McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC, Des Moines
Kellyann Lekar, District Court Judge, First Judicial District, Waterloo
Michelle Mackel-Wiederanders, Assistant City Attorney, City of Des Moines, Des Moines
David May, District Court Judge, Fifth Judicial District, Polk City
Craig Nierman, Attorney, Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker & Gelman, L.L.P., Iowa City
Alan Ostergren, Muscatine County Attorney, Muscatine County Attorney’s Office, Muscatine
Heather Prendergast, Attorney, Roberts, Steven & Prendergast, P.L.L.C., Denver
Dustria Relph, District Court Judge, Fifth Judicial District, Corydon
Elisabeth Reynoldson, Attorney, Reynoldson & Van Werden, L.L.P., Osceola
Julie Schumacher, District Court Judge, Third Judicial District, Schleswig
Jacob Schunk, Assistant United States Attorney, US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa, North Liberty
Rachael Seymour, District Associate Judge, Fifth Judicial District, Des Moines
Sharon Soorholtz Greer, Attorney, Cartwright, Druker & Ryden, Marshalltown
Joel Vos, Attorney, Heidman Law Firm, PLLC, Sioux City
Molly Weber, Assistant Attorney General, Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Adel
Lisa Williams, Assistant United States Attorney, US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa, Iowa City
