District Judicial Nominating Commissions
District judicial nominating commissions are responsible for screening applicants and selecting nominees for district judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, and associate probate judge vacancies. There is a nominating commission for each of Iowa's fourteen judicial election subdistricts. Each district commission has eleven 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 nominating commissions provide the governor with a slate of two nominees from which to make an appointment to the district court.
To find a listing of a district’s commission members, the district internal rules, judicial vacancies, judicial nominees, and where to send written comments about the qualifications of applicants for judicial vacancies, click the links below.
| District 1A | District 1B | District 2A |
| District 2B | District 3A | District 3B |
| District 4 | District 5A | District 5B |
| District 5C | District 6 | District 7 |
| District 8A | District 8B |
Within 60 days of receiving the vacancy notice from the secretary of state, the commission must submit the names of nominees to the governor. The commission selects two nominees for appointment.
- Commission procedures
- Governing provisions
- The Iowa Constitution (Amendment of 1962)
- Iowa Code Chapter 46 (PDF)
- Senate File 2096, Repealing Gender Balance Requirements for Appointive Bodies (PDF)
- Iowa Code Section 602.6201 (PDF)
- Iowa Code Section 602.6304 (PDF)
- Iowa Code Section 602.6305 (PDF)
- State and District Judicial Nominating Commissions Uniform Rules of Procedure (PDF)
- Serve on a Commission
Judicial Officers
- The Iowa Constitution requires each Iowa judge to be:
- A lawyer admitted to practice law in Iowa
- A resident of the state, district, or county to which they are nominated
- Of an age as they can serve a full term of office before reaching age 72
- Oath of office
Applicants
- Applicants for district judge, district associate judge, associate juvenile judge, and associate probate judge vacancies must reside in the judicial election district to which a vacancy exists or a county contiguous to it. If appointed, the judge must be a resident of the judicial election district where the vacancy existed for the entire term in office.
- District Court and DAJ Application
- District Court and DAJ Background Information