Justice Jerry L. Larson
DES MOINES -- The Iowa Supreme Court has begun its search for a new justice now that its longest-serving member has reached the mandatory retirement age. Justice Jerry L. Larson will retire on May 17 this year at age 72 after serving for 30 years on the state's top bench. He had previously worked as a district court judge and served two terms as Shelby County Attorney. The Iowa Judicial Branch announced last week that its State Judicial Nominating Commission had opened nominations to fill Larson's vacancy on the SC. The 14-member Commission, chaired by Justice Larson, will meet March 6 and 7 to select three nominees to send to Governor Chet Culver, who will decide the final pick. Larson's official Iowa SC biography states that he played "a key role in developing the court's rules for expanded media coverage of Iowa's courts." The previous longest-serving state SC justice was Theodore Garfield, who served from 1941 until 1969.