In her Condition of the Judiciary address Wednesday morning, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen said the state needs to raise the salaries of district court judges in order to recruit and retain talent.
Each county has a district court, where a variety of cases start, like criminal and civil proceedings.
Christensen said low pay for judges is already preventing the state from attracting candidates. She pointed to an opening this year for a district judge in southeast Iowa that only received two applicants.
"Mark my words: We are a whisper away from there being a judicial opening with one applicant,” she said. “At that point, how can the commission or governor meaningfully evaluate qualifications, experience or temperament? They can’t."
As head of Iowa’s highest court, Christensen asked the Legislature to raise district court judge salaries by more than 4%. Last year, she asked for an increase of a little over 10%.
Iowa currently has 116 district court judges.