HF 2706 Iowa House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

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

404
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 49
Apr 7, 2026
D Democratic15
11 Yea 2 Nay 2
73% Yea
R Republican34
29 Yea 2 Nay 3
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.