A controversial bill was signed into law this week, though it was a pared down version of the original.

On Wednesday, Governor Kim Reynolds approved Senate File 638, commonly referred to as the judicial nomination reform bill. The new law gives the Governor control over the judicial nominating commissions, specifically for the Supreme Court of Iowa and the Court of Appeals. Previously, the Governor appointed eight members of the commission, and the Iowa State Bar Association appointed eight lawyers. Ties were broken by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who served as the chairperson and 17th member of the commission.

Under the new law, the Chief Justice is replaced by a ninth member appointed by the Governor, and the commission will select the chairperson from among themselves. Additionally, the law reduces the Chief Justice’s term from eight years to two. The original bill completely removed the Iowa Bar, and gave the appointments to the legislative leadership. Republican lawmakers, including State Representative Chris Hagenow from District 19, felt the reduced version of the bill was a good compromise, which still accomplished what they set forth to do. “Just to give the Governor a little bit more latitude in getting the kinds of nominees that she would prefer to have. So I think it’s a modest change, I think it’s a good change, which will help allow for the Governor and the people that voted her into office have a little bit more say in who those judicial nominees will be.”

Opponents to the nomination reform, including the State Bar Association and Democrats in the Legislature, see the law as nothing more than a power grab by the Republican-controlled chambers. They claim the conservatives were upset over the Iowa Supreme Court finding several recent bills to be unconstitutional, such as the fetal heartbeat bill, as well as those dating back to the approval of same-sex marriage. It remains to be seen if the new law will be found unconstitutional — and Democratic lawmakers believe it likely will — but as of now the Governor plans to appoint the tie-breaking Supreme Court Commission member immediately.

To learn more about the recent legislative session, click the links below to listen to the most recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County programs with Hagenow.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/05/06/lets-talk-dallas-county-5-6-2019-chris-hagenow-part-one/
https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/05/07/lets-talk-dallas-county-5-7-2019-chris-hagenow-part-two/