Iowa Court of Appeals interviews begin today

The State Judicial Nominating Commission will begin interviews to fill a vacancy on the Iowa Court of Appeals at 1 p.m. today. Fourteen of the 26 applicants will be interviewed this afternoon.

The vacancy was left by Judge Edward Mansfield, who is now on the Iowa Supreme Court. Twenty-six attorneys, judges and magistrates have applied for the position, hailing from all over Iowa, including the eastern corridor, the capital city and Missouri river cities like Sioux City.

Many of the applicants are not green to the judicial nomination process; just under half of the applicants most recently applied for one of the three Iowa Supreme Court vacancies early this year.  Applicants include Assistant Attorney General Jeanie Kunkle Vaudt, of West Des Moines, Iowa Legal Aid’s managing attorney Frank Tenuta, of Sioux City, and district Associate Judge Nathan Callahan, of Cedar Falls.

Michael Keller, an attorney from Des Moines, will be the first interviewee today. Des Moines attorney George F. Davison will kick off tomorrow morning’s list. A complete list may be found on the Iowa Judicial Branch’s website.

Judicial Branch officials are scheduled to complete the 26 interviews by noon tomorrow.

As with the Supreme Court selection, the Commission will select a slate of three nominees for Gov. Terry Branstad. The Governor must appoint the new judge within 30 days of receiving the slate.