Five Iowans have applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the vacancy on the Iowa Supreme Court that will occur when Justice Brent Appel retires on July 13, 2022.
Posted below is the State Judicial Nominating Commission interview schedule for the five 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 11:59 P.M. on June 23, 2022, at the email addresses on the State Judicial Nominating Commission website and by email to the Secretary of the commission at sjnc@iowa.gov. Please note that any comments provided to the commission members may be subject to disclosure pursuant to Iowa’s Open Records Laws.
The commission will meet Monday, June 27, 2022, 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 until the Governor selects a nominee to fill the vacancy.
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 Monday, June 27, 2022:
9:50 a.m. Patrick Tott, Chief District Court Judge, Third Judicial District, Sioux City
10:10 a.m. Timothy Gartin, Attorney, Hastings, Gartin & Boettger LLP, Ames
10:30 a.m. William Miller, Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Des Moines
10:50 – 11:00 a.m. BREAK
11:00 a.m. Alan Heavens, District Court Judge, First Judicial District, Garnavillo
11:20 a.m. David May, Judge, Iowa Court of Appeals, Polk City