Fifteen Iowans have applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the vacancy on the Iowa Supreme Court that will occur when Justice David Wiggins retires on March 13, 2020.
Posted below is the State Judicial Nominating Commission interview schedule for the fifteen applicants.
The commission welcomes written comments from the public about the qualifications of any of the applicants. Comments must be submitted to the commission members via email no later than 5:00 p.m. March 4, 2020 at the email addresses on the State Judicial Nominating Commission website and by email to the Secretary of the commission at [email protected].
The commission will meet Friday, March 6, 2020, in the Iowa Supreme Court Courtroom on the fourth floor of the Judicial Branch Building to interview the applicants for the vacancy. 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 three 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 justice.
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 of the commissioners are on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website.
List of Applicants and Interview Schedule for Friday, March 6, 2020:
9:00 a.m. Mindy Larson Poldberg, Director of Government Relations, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Panora
9:20 a.m. Molly Weber, Assistant Attorney General, Iowa Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Adel
9:40 a.m. Craig Nierman, Attorney, Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker & Gelman, L.L.P., Iowa City
10:00 a.m. Sharon Brenna Findley Bird, Guthrie County Attorney, Attorney, Bird Law Office, PLLC, Strategic Advisor, LS2group, Dexter
10:20 a.m. Theresa Wilson, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Des Moines
11:00 a.m. Matthew McDermott, Attorney, Belin McCormick, P.C., Des Moines
11:20 a.m. Romonda Belcher, District Associate Judge, 5th Judicial District, Des Moines
11:40 am. Lisa Reel Schmidt, Assistant Attorney General, Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Des Moines
12:40 p.m. Alan Ostergren, Muscatine County Attorney, Letts
1:00 p.m. Patrick Tott, District Court Judge, Third Judicial District, Sioux City
1:20 p.m. William Miller, Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Des Moines
1:40 p.m. Mary Chicchelly, District Court Judge, Sixth Judicial District, Cedar Rapids
2:00 p.m. Sam Langholz, Senior Legal Counsel and Special Advisor, Office of Governor Kim Reynolds, Ankeny
2:20 p.m. Joel Barrows, District Court Judge, Seventh Judicial District, Bettendorf
2:40 p.m. David May, Iowa Court of Appeals, Polk City
For More Information:
For More Information:
Contact: Trish Roberts, Chair of the State Judicial Nominating Commission; 712-830-9912; [email protected]