Washington judge wins lifetime achievement award

WASHINGTON — The Iowa Judges Association last month announced a Washington-based judge as the winner of its most prestigious annual recognition.

Michael Mullins — a longtime judge in Washington whose work establishing a codex simplifying the state’s convoluted sentencing codes has made impacts across Iowa — said in an interview last week that he was honored to receive the Chief Justice Mark Cady Award of Merit.

“It was more of an emotional reaction than I thought it might be, I was surprised,” he said. “It was an overwhelming feeling of, I don’t know, appreciation, humility. I felt kind of choked up … I don’t generally get too emotional about things, I tend to be pretty analytical, methodical.”

Mullins’ contributions to Iowa’s judicial system go beyond his extensive sentencing guide, today maintained largely by law students at Drake University with his oversight.

He’s become a frequent speaker at legal conferences, often on sentencing issues. He was appointed as a district court judge in 2002, then a Court of Appeals judge in 2011. In 2022, he retired and became a quarter-time “senior judge,” a role he maintains today that involves some casework, as well as consultant contributions the judicial branch’s education staff.

“Our honoree authored hundreds of opinions that shaped Iowa law [and] he has played an integral role in judicial education,” said Third District Chief Judge Duane Hoffmeyer, in a speech presenting the award to Mullins at Prairie Meadows June 24. “Today, we honor not only a judicial career of distinction, but a life dedicated to public service and the enduring promise of justice under the law.”

With one of Iowa’s most prestigious judicial accomplishments now in-hand, Mullins said he’d remain in his position at least for the rest of his current two-year term — which ends in 2026 — though he expects he’ll ultimately remain there until 2028, completing the typical six-year length of a senior judge’s appointment.

“You can revel in this stuff only so long, and then you have to just get back to work,” he said.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com