Democratic lawyers challenge Judge Jason Besler’s appointment

DES MOINES - A group of Iowa lawyers says an Eastern Iowa District Court judge's rulings are subject to endless legal challenges because his appointment by Gov. Kim Reynolds did not meet the timeline specified in the state constitution.

The lawyers said Justice Jason Besler lacks the authority to serve because Reynolds did not submit his appointment in the time frame laid out in the constitution.

They made the claims Monday during a conference call with Iowa reporters. Collectively, the lawyers have donated more than $72,000 to Democratic candidates in Iowa since 2003, state campaign finance records show.

'He's not a duly appointed judge pursuant to the constitution of the state of Iowa, and as such his ability to issue rulings doesn't actually exist,” said Mark Keller, an lawyer in Des Moines.

Reynolds says she made the decision to appoint Besler within the required time frame, but she and her staff neglected to notify Belser or officials in the judicial system.

Iowa Supreme Court Justice Mark Cady accepted Reynolds' explanation, his counsel said in a letter to the governor's chief of staff.

The four attorneys on the Democratic Party's conference call Monday asserted that Besler's appointment did not meet constitutional standards.

'You can't read the Iowa Constitution and believe that Judge Besler has been duly appointed under the constitution. It's just impossible,” Keller said.

Said George Appleby, a lawyer in Des Moines, said failure to meet deadlines set for the courts by the Iowa Constitution his 'dire consequences” for individuals involved in the judicial system.

'As practitioners, we all know that the constitution and the rules and the laws of Iowa, when they provide deadlines they are definite. They're not discretionary, and they're not waveable,” Appleby said. 'It does underscore that Judge Besler's legitimacy is really at question here.”

The lawyers said attorneys who lose cases tried by Besler could file appeals questioning his authority to deliver a ruling or to approve warrants.

'When that evidence is going to come into the case at trial, that's going to be challenged. Did (Besler) or did he not have the authority to issue a search warrant? ... That's the kind of uncertainty we don't need in our judicial system,” said Ray Blase, a former prosecutor. 'It would expect there's going to be, unless this is cleared up somehow ... hundreds and hundreds of appeals on the criminal side of things.”

The Iowa Constitution calls for the governor to make a district judge appointment within 30 days of receiving recommendations from the state's judicial nominating committee.

The committee on May 22 notified Reynolds of its nominees for a vacancy to the state's 6th Judicial District in Eastern Iowa.

Reynolds announced her appointment of Besler to the District Court on June 25, four days after the 30-day window had closed.

The liberal political website Bleeding Heartland first reported that Reynolds missed the deadline for appointing Belser to the District Court.

Reynolds told reporters she made the decision on Belser's appointment in sufficient time by informing her chief of staff, but failed to notify Belser or officials in the judicial branch.

Counsel to Cady on July 6 wrote to Reynolds' chief of staff Ryan Koopmans that although Reynolds failed to notify Belser or judicial officials within 30 days, 'the chief justice respectfully defers to and accepts the decision by Gov. Reynolds that this appointment was made on June 21.”

The governor's office declined to comment Monday.