A bill for an act relating to judicial officers, including magistrate appointments in judicial election districts, senior magistrates, and judicial officer compensation, and including effective date provisions.
HF 2706 modifies Iowa's magistrate appointment system by allowing chief judges to substitute district associate judges for magistrates in counties meeting specific criteria (e.g., having three or more magistrates), subject to court approval and majority votes by district judges. It requires counties to cover magistrate appointing commission members' expenses based on their residence and mandates detailed record-keeping of commission members and magistrate appointments. Magistrates' salaries will now be set by the legislature rather than locally. The bill also updates procedures for certifying appointments and managing unexpired terms.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
House Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
Apr 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Feb 23, 2026
Signed Apr 30, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled with Governor's Action
→
Reprinted
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was reprinted to correct formatting and numbering errors from the previous version, while retaining the same substantive policy changes regarding magistrate appointments and judicial officer compensation. The core amendments to Iowa Code sections 331.321, 331.502, 331.653, and 602.1214 through 602.6401 remain identical, focusing on updating appointment procedures, certification requirements, and salary structures for judicial magistrates in election districts.
TECHNICAL
Corrected inconsistent line breaks, spacing, and paragraph numbering throughout the document to match standard legislative formatting.
Fixed section numbering sequences and removed duplicate or misplaced section headers to improve readability.
Updated the header information to reflect the bill's status as 'Reprinted' by the Committee on Judiciary, including companion bill references and amendment history.
Floor votes · Senate Apr 7, 2026
How they voted
40–4
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 49
Apr 7, 2026
D
Democratic15
73% Yea
R
Republican34
85% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
17
Key actions
4
Committee
0
Amendments
2
Apr 30, 2026
Signed into law
Signed by Governor.
lower
Apr 7, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate, yeas 41, nays 4.
upper
Apr 1, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 84, nays 8.
lower
Apr 1, 2026
Lower · Passed
Amendment H-8278 adopted.
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Introduced
Amendment H-8278 filed.
lower
Feb 23, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
No sponsor information available.
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