The Iowa Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level
appellate court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
of the state of
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. Its purpose is to review
appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
s from trial court decisions which are referred to the court by the
Iowa Supreme Court
The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices.
The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 E ...
. The court decides the vast majority of appeals filed from trial courts in the state of Iowa, and its decisions are final unless further review is granted by the Iowa Supreme Court.
Judges of the court
The court is composed of nine
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s. Each judge is appointed for one year by the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, from a list of nominees composed by the State Judicial Nominating Commission. The judge will then serve a one-year term before facing a
retention election
A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are ...
. If the judge is reelected, his/her term will normally be six years. The retirement age is 72, after which some judges take
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...
.
The judges elect the Chief Judge from among themselves every two years. The chief judge functions as the administrative head of the court.
, the nine judges of the Iowa Court of Appeals are:
*Chief Judge Thomas N. Bower, appointed by
Terry Branstad
Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa fro ...
on December 8, 2011.
*Judge
Anuradha Vaitheswaran
Anuradha Vaitheswaran is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals. She was appointed to the court by Governor Tom Vilsack in 1999.
Early life and education
Vaitheswaran was born in Hyderabad, India, and r ...
, appointed by
Tom Vilsack
Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...
on August 16, 1999.
*Judge Mary E. Tabor, appointed by
Chet Culver
Chester John Culver (born January 25, 1966) is an American politician who served one term as the 41st governor of Iowa, from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he had previously served as the 29th secretary of state of Iowa from 199 ...
on April 28, 2010.
*Judge Sharon Soorholtz Greer, appointed by Kim Reynolds on April 27, 2019.
*Judge Julie Schumacher, appointed by Kim Reynolds on August 29, 2019.
*Judge Paul B. Ahlers, appointed by Kim Reynolds on November 27, 2019.
*Judge Gina Badding, appointed by Kim Reynolds on July 22, 2021.
*Judge Mary Chicchelly, appointed by Kim Reynolds on December 7, 2021.
*Judge Tyler Buller, appointed by Kim Reynolds on October 26, 2022.
Former judges
*
Terry L. Huitink (1994-2008)
See also
*
Courts of Iowa
References
External links
Homepage of the Iowa Court of AppealsJudges of the Iowa Court of Appeals
Iowa state courts
State appellate courts of the United States
Courts and tribunals with year of establishment missing
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