No Background Check Requirement For Associate District Court Judges in Iowa?
I know that we have been posting articles about doing background checks on employees, but I was shocked to see that in Iowa, there was no background check requirement for associate district court judges. I think this might be the first step to defining a program in Iowa.
It’s all coming out now. Allegations of forgery after forgery, fraud after fraud.
The six-count federal indictment against Iowa Associate Judge Kyle D. Williamson alleges forged signatures, phony documents and identity theft to trick his private practice law clients.
Thank goodness federal and state authorities are looking now because no one else had to. Iowa state law requires no background checks of associate district court judges.
Williamson won his $113,000 a year associate judge’s position in October without anyone having to check civil or criminal court files or credit reports.
“Judges and lawyers must be held to the highest standards under the law,” said Bobbi Alpers, chief judge of the district covering Scott, Clinton, Jackson and Muscatine counties.
