District Court Judge vacancy in District 1-A due to retirement of The Honorable John Bauercamper at end of this year
A vacancy in the position of District Court Judge for Election District 1-A exists, due to the retirement of The Honorable John J. Bauercamper, District Court Judge, Allamakee County Courthouse, Waukon as of December 31 of this year. The Judicial Election District 1-A Nominating Commission is required to select two nominees by November 11 of this year to fill the term of office becoming vacant January 1, 2020. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds will then have 30 days from the date of nomination to appoint one of the nominees to fill the position.
All applicants must be attorneys admitted to the practice of law in Iowa, residents of Judicial District 1-A, which includes the counties of Allamakee, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque and Winneshiek, when appointed, and be able to complete the initial term and one regular term of office prior to reaching the age of 72 years, as provided by Section 602.6201[2] of the 2019 Code of Iowa.
Judicial Application forms must be obtained from the secretary of the commission, who is Linda Nilges, Court Administrator, First Judicial District, State of Iowa, Black Hawk County Courthouse, 316 East Fifth Street, Waterloo, IA 50703, who can also be reached at linda.nilges@iowacourts.gov. Do not use any other form or manner of application.
A paper copy of the application must be submitted to the Chairperson of the Judicial Election District 1-A Nominating Commission at the Court Administrator’s Office in Waterloo, with copies of the application also submitted to each of the 11 members of the commission and to the First Judicial District Court Administrator by email.
The senior district court judge serves as ex-officio chairperson of the Judicial Nominating Commission. The commission includes five attorney members elected by the attorneys in the district and five residents of the district appointed by the Iowa Governor. The names and email addresses for the 11 commission members are:
Chairman: Judge John J. Bauercamper, john.bauercamper@iowacourts.gov
Dana Desimone, Decorah attorney, Ddesimone@Millerlawdecorah.com
Christopher Fry, Dubuque attorney, cfry@octhomaslaw.com
Whitney Gessner, Monona attorney, gessnerlawoffice@gmail.com
Patricia Reisen-Ottavi, Dubuque attorney, ottavilaw@gmail.com
Jeremy Thompson, Decorah, attorney, jthompson@putlaw.com
Dean Franzen, Elkader, dfranzen@premieragsystems.com
Matthew Giese, Dubuque, mgiese84@gmail.com
Marsha Hauser, Edgewood, mmhauser6@gmail.com
Kathleen Klimesh, Spillville, katescalling@hotmail.com
Duane Smith, Waukon, pastorduane1631@gmail.com.
Public information about the commission members and these proceedings will also be posted on the Iowa Judicial Branch Website at https://www.iowajnc.gov/district-commissions/judicial-district-1.
A district court judge in the First Judicial District is a general jurisdiction trial judge presiding over civil, criminal and family court proceedings in all 11 counties of the First Judicial District. There is a total of 14 district judges serving the entire First Judicial District.
The five Sub-district 1-A judges are primarily, but not exclusively, assigned to work in the five Sub-district 1-A counties, which are: Allamakee, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque and Winneshiek. The nine Sub-district 1-B judges are primarily, but not exclusively, assigned to work in the six Sub-district 1-B counties, which are: Black Hawk, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Fayette, Grundy and Howard.
The annual salary of a district judge is currently $150,444.00, plus State of Iowa employee benefits and pension eligibility. The deadline for filing the judicial application form is Friday, October 18, 2019 at 4 p.m. Applications must be received by the chairperson and all commissioners by that date and hour.
Interviews before the entire commission will be held Monday, October 28. The Chairperson or Secretary will notify the public and those applicants selected for personal interviews of the time and place for their attendance for such interviews.
The public may attend the interviews for observation only. The public is not permitted to speak or participate in the interviews. However, public input to the commission as a whole or recommendations to individual members of the commission are appropriate before the date of the interviews. Deliberation and balloting by the commission will occur in sessions closed to the public.
