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List of Applicants and Interview Schedule for Iowa Supreme Court vacancy

December 26, 2019

Twelve Iowans have applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the vacancy on the Iowa Supreme Court that occurred upon the passing of Chief Justice Mark Cady.

Posted below is the State Judicial Nominating Commission interview schedule for the twelve applicants. The interview schedule and applications will also be posted on the State Judicial Nominating Commission website at https://www.iowajnc.gov/state-commission.

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. January 7, 2020 at the email addresses on the State Judicial Nominating Commission website and by email to the Secretary of the commission at sjnc@iowa.gov.

The commission will meet Thursday, January 9, 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 Thursday, January 9, 2020:

9:00 a.m.  Craig Nierman, Attorney, Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker & Gelman, L.L.P., Iowa City
Application
Writing sample

9:20 a.m.  Lisa Reel Schmidt, Assistant Attorney General, Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Des Moines
Application
Writing sample

9:40 a.m.  Theresa Wilson, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Des Moines
Application
Writing sample

10:00 a.m.  Dana Oxley, Attorney, Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, PLC, Cedar Rapids
Application
Writing sample

10:20 a.m. Mary Chicchelly, District Court Judge, Sixth Judicial District, Cedar Rapids
Application
Writing sample

11:00 a.m. Matthew McDermott, Attorney, Belin McCormick, P.C., Des Moines
Application
Writing sample

11:20 a.m. Alan Ostergren, Muscatine County Attorney, Letts
Application
Writing sample

11:40 am. William Miller, Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Des Moines
Application
Writing sample

12:40 p.m. Joel Barrows, District Court Judge, Seventh Judicial District, Bettendorf
Application
Writing sample

1:00 p.m. David May, Iowa Court of Appeals, Polk City
Application
Writing sample

1:20 p.m. Timothy Gartin, Attorney, Hastings, Gartin & Boettger, LLP, Ames
Application
Writing sample

1:40 p.m. Romonda Belcher, District Associate Judge, 5th Judicial District, Des Moines
Application
​​​​​​​Writing sample

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