Judge Phillips was appointed to the bench in October 2021. Judge Phillips graduated Cum Laude from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice in 1996. She received her law degree from the University of South Dakota Law School in 1999 before returning back to northwest Iowa to begin her practice of law. Prior to her appointment, she was an assistant county attorney in Cherokee and Ida counties along with maintaining a small private practice.
Judge Phillips is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association, the Cherokee Bar Association, the Ida County Bar Association, and the Iowa Judges Association.