DES MOINES — Senate Republican lawmakers revived an effort that would give the governor more power in the process of selecting Iowa district court judges.
The bill would remove the most senior judge in the district from the judicial nominating commission. Instead, the governor would be allowed to appoint an additional member. With the addition, the governor would be able to appoint six or a majority of the members to each judicial nominating commission.
The honorable John M. Sandy has been elected by his peers to represent the Third Judicial District of Iowa as a board member and officer of the Iowa Judges Association. There are eight judicial districts in the state of Iowa, and he will be one of eight to serve in such capacity.
Des Moines, IA- Governor Reynolds has appointed a district court judge from Cedar Rapids to the Iowa Court of Appeals. Radio Iowa reports that Mary Chicchelly has been a district court judge for nearly nine years. She's a 1992 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law. After graduation, she worked in private practice in Fort Dodge for two years, then for the next two years she worked in Waterloo. Chicchelly practiced law in Cedar Rapids from 1997 until 2013. She is a past president of the Iowa Judges Association. Chicchelly will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Michael Mullins of Washington.