Iowa Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice David Wiggins announced he will retire effective March 13, 2020. Wiggins was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2003.
Wiggins was the target of efforts to remove him from the Iowa Supreme Court in 2012 through a retention election.
In 2010, Iowans voted to remove three court justices who were up for retention, mostly due to their ruling that allowed same-sex marriage in Iowa.
Wiggins survived the 2012 effort with 54.61 percent of the vote. He would have been up for retention this year.
Gov. Kim Reynolds is going through the process of appointing a justice to replace Mark Cady, who died in 2019. She will also now have to appoint someone to replace Wiggins.
The next two appointments will be the third and fourth appointments by Gov. Reynolds to the Iowa Supreme Court.
“Justice David Wiggins has been a dedicated public servant for the last 17 years and has ably led the court through a difficult time after the passing of Chief Justice Cady,” Gov. Reynolds said. “Justice Wiggins has been a distinguished and active member of the legal community, and I wish him well on his retirement.”
