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Senate adopts substitute to move magistrate assignments from counties to judicial districts
Summary
Senators debated a generational update to the magistrate system that replaces county‑based magistrates with district teams and gave existing magistrates a right of first refusal to continue service; the substitute (House File 2706) passed after debate and an adopted amendment.
Senator Schultz (Crawford) described the proposal as "a generational update to our system of magistrates across the state," saying the bill moves magistrate assignments from a county model to judicial district teams to improve workload management and accessibility.
An amendment (Senate amendment 51‑60) was offered to give current magistrates a right of first refusal to move into new positions; Schultz said the change "provides right of first refusal to current magistrates to move to a new position to continue serving as a magistrate." Opponents, including Senator Zimmer, warned the reform would reduce local access to justice in smaller counties and shift resources to larger counties; Zimmer described magistrates' routine duties and said regionalization "hurt rural Iowans." After debate the Senate adopted the amendment, accepted the substitute (House File 2706) and the bill passed by roll call (reported 41 ayes). Supporters said the plan gives chief judges district authority to match workforce to workload.
