Washington judge among nominees for appeals court

WASHINGTON — District Court Judge Shawn Showers of Washington County may soon have a new job in Des Moines, after a committee named him and four other candidates on a list of recommended appointees to the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has until June 28 to appoint a replacement to that bench, where Chief Judge Thomas Bower plans to retire on July 1, according to news releases from the Iowa Judicial Branch.

The Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission recommended Showers, alongside judges Jeffrey Bert (Bettendorf,) Alan Heavens (Garnavillo,) Amy Moore (Ames,) and John Sandy (Spirit Lake,) on May 29. Reynolds will pick only one from the list for the vacant appellate seat.

Showers was the last of 18 candidates interviewed by the committee in a livestreamed proceeding late last month. He said he was said he felt he was well-suited for the role, and offered a similar background to the outgoing judge.

“There’s been 17 people come sit here before me, but none of them have as similar a resume that mirrors Judge Bower like I do,” he said. “The right kind of experience matters. So, 16 years, my entire career, has been in Iowa. Either as the prosecutor, the defense attorney, or the judge. No other applicant can say that, and it’s a perspective I think would benefit the Iowa Court of Appeals.”

He’s also the only judge in the running from a rural, South Iowa community. Showers said he thought that perspective would “enrich the court,” in his interview. He said District Eight still offered a wide range of cases.

“When you go from doing a custody trial in Monroe County to sentencing two 18-year-olds to life in prison in Jefferson County to doing a 10-day medical malpractice trial in Wapello County and a dispute about whether or not a goat fence was sufficient in Poweshiek County, you’ve got that variety that the appellate courts are looking at,” he said.

Showers has served as a judge for Iowa’s Eighth Judicial District since 2016, when he was appointed by then Gov. Terry Branstad. On the bench, he’s presided over noteworthy cases, like the murder of Spanish Teacher Nohema Graber in Fairfield, and that of a woman who attempted to escape a police officer in a stolen vehicle, and dragged the officer behind her while he held onto the car.

Before his time as a judge, Showers was Washington County Attorney, and before that an assistant public defender for the state. He’s also worked as an assistant county attorney in Washington and Cerro Gordo counties, and served as a law clerk in Cedar Rapids and Coralville.

The five candidates were selected from a total of 18 applicants. Another locally familiar name, former Washington County Attorney John Gish, submitted an application for the opening, but was not among the list recommended by the nominating commission.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com