House File 956 amends various sections of Iowa's judicial branch administration laws, primarily focusing on residency requirements for judges and the retirement age for judicial officers. The bill allows district judges, district associate judges, magistrates, and full-time associate judges to be residents of either the judicial election district or a contiguous county, rather than strictly the judicial election district. Additionally, the mandatory retirement age for justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, and district judges is increased from seventy-two to seventy-eight years. The bill also raises the retirement age for senior judges from seventy-eight to eighty-four years.

Furthermore, the bill introduces provisions for remote court proceedings and clarifies the supervision and duties of court reporters. The chief judge of a judicial district is given the authority to supervise and assign duties to court reporters, while judges presiding over proceedings can oversee court reporters during those sessions. The bill also repeals a section of the code and makes various technical amendments to ensure consistency in the language used throughout the judicial statutes. Overall, House File 956 aims to modernize the judicial system in Iowa by updating residency requirements, retirement ages, and operational procedures.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 602.6201, 602.6108, 602.7103C, 46.14, 602.1610, 602.6404, 602.9202, 633.20C, 602.1612, 602.3201, 602.6603, 331.381, 602.8102
Reprinted: 602.6201, 602.6108, 602.7103C, 46.14, 602.1610, 602.6404, 602.9202, 633.20C, 602.1612, 602.3201, 602.6603, 331.381, 602.8102
Enrolled: 602.6201, 602.6108, 602.7103C, 46.14, 602.1610, 602.6404, 602.9202, 602.9203, 633.20C, 602.1612, 602.3201, 602.6603, 331.381, 602.8102, 602.9206