The State Judicial Nominating Commission, which is responsible for selecting nominees for appointment to the Iowa Court of Appeals, announced today it will begin accepting applications for a vacancy on the court arising from the retirement of Judge Anuradha Vaitheswaran. The Commission received notice of the vacancy from Governor Reynolds on May 22, 2023. The Commission has sixty days to send a slate of nominees to the Governor, who makes appointments to the court.
The deadline for applications to be received by the Commission and the Commissioners to be considered for balloting is 11:59 p.m. on July 3, 2023. Any citizen may submit in writing to any Commissioner via email at the email addresses listed on the State Judicial Nominating Commission website at https://www.iowajnc.gov/state-commission/state-members-and-vacancies and also listed below, the names of persons for consideration as a candidate for nomination and express views concerning such candidate. For comments regarding an applicant to be considered by the Commission, communications from the public must be received by the Commissioners via email by 11:59 P.M. on July 9, 2023. Please note that comments provided to the Commissioners may be subject to disclosure pursuant to Iowa’s Open Records Laws.
Applications can be obtained on the State Judicial Nominating Commission website at the website address listed above. The State and District Judicial Nominating Commissions Uniform Rules of Procedure adopted by the State Judicial Nominating Commission are available at https://www.iowajnc.gov/state-commission.
Once the application time has run, the Commission will release the names of all applicants along with information about each applicant's background, experience, and qualifications. This list and other information about the Commission and Iowa's merit selection process will be available on the Iowa Judicial Branch website: www.iowacourts.gov.
Depending on the number of candidates requesting interviews, the Commission has set aside July 13 and 14, 2023, to interview applicants and select five nominees to submit to the Governor for appointment. The interviews will be in the Supreme Court Courtroom in the Judicial Branch Building, 1111 East Court Avenue, Des Moines. The interview portion of the meeting is open to the public and will be streamed live on the Iowa Judicial Branch YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6EU7W8kqDKnKPUzMdxr_g .
The 17-member Commission is composed of eight commissioners elected by lawyers licensed to practice law in Iowa and nine commissioners appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate.
The names and email addresses of the State Judicial Nominating Commission members are:
Chairperson
Janece Valentine
515.955.5544
[email protected]
Secretary
Dan Huitink
641-629-6630
[email protected]
Commissioners
Jen Chase
319-234-2638
[email protected]
Dustin Graber
515-979-7178|
[email protected]
Bradley Hartkopf
712-249-8589
[email protected]
Cheryl Hanson
563-379-0880
[email protected]
Nancy Henderson
641-780-1145
[email protected]
Ashley Hoegh
507-391-1253
[email protected]
Kelsey A.W. Marquard
563-355-6060
[email protected]
Alfredo Parrish
515-284-5737
[email protected]
Kathy Pearson
319-350-4604
[email protected]
Garrett Piklapp
515-432-2634 ext. 436
[email protected]
Brett Roberts
312-291-6014
[email protected]
Jerry Schnurr
515-576-3977
[email protected]
Tim Semelroth
319-365-9200
[email protected]
Leon Spies
319-337-4193
[email protected]
Kristina Stanger
515-283-8009
[email protected]
For More Information:
Janece M. Valentine
515-955-5544
[email protected]