There are 94 federal judicial districts.  Iowa has two federal judicial districts: the Northern District of Iowa and the Southern District of Iowa.  See 28 U.S.C. § 95.  The 94 federal judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a court of appeals.  The Northern District of Iowa is included in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The number of federal judgeships authorized for each federal district is set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 133.  The Northern District of Iowa has two judgeships.  The number of judgeships authorized for each circuit is set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 44.  The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has 11 judgeships.  

Supreme Court justices, court of appeals judges, and district court judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate, as stated in the Constitution. The names of potential nominees are often recommended by senators or sometimes members of the House who are of the President's political party. The Senate Judiciary Committee typically conducts confirmation hearings for each nominee. Article III of the Constitution states that these judicial officers are appointed for a life term. The federal Judiciary, the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts play no role in the nomination and confirmation process.

Your criminal restitution balance can be obtained from the Monetary Penalty Unit (MPU) in the Cedar Rapids United States Attorney's Office at (319) 363-6333.

No, you need to visit a public terminal that corresponds with the federal judicial district where the case was filed or obtain a PACER account from PACER.gov. 

The basic considerations in making assignments are to assure equitable distribution of caseload and avoid judge shopping. By statute, the chief judge of each district court has the responsibility to enforce the court's rules and orders on case assignments. Each court has a written plan or system for assigning cases. The majority of courts use some variation of a random drawing. One simple method is to rotate the names of available judges. At times, judges having special expertise can be assigned cases by type, such as complex criminal cases, asbestos-related cases, or prisoner cases. The benefit of this system is that it takes advantage of the expertise developed by judges in certain areas. Sometimes cases may be assigned based on geographical considerations. For example, in a large geographical area it may be best to assign a case to a judge located at the site where the case was filed. Courts also have a system to check if there is any conflict that would make it improper for a judge to preside over a particular case. 

Bonds requiring the posting of personal or real property, other than cash, will be accepted for a surety bond only upon order of the court.  The court will specify the personal or real property required to be posted by the party.  

The surety company must be certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  Link to: List of Certified Companies.

Currently, the court does not take payments over the phone. We are now accepting ACH Payment (Direct from Checking or Savings Account) through Pay.gov.

If you are not a party, the Clerk's Office does not have the authority to provide a copy of a sealed document to you. 

In Cedar Rapids and Sioux City, there is a public terminal available in the Clerk's Office.  You may look up cases that are on our electronic system. Sealed documents in a case are not available.  Cases prior to 2004 may not be on the court's electronic system. There may be cases that are partially available in electronic format. Cases not available in electronic format may be archived at the National Records Center. Please note that, in 2008, the Cedar Rapids courthouse was flooded and records were destroyed.  The Clerk's Office no longer has documentation available for those cases (Flood Files).

You may contact the Clerk's Office to see if the file you are seeking is available electronically, is located at the National Records Center, or has been designated a Flood File.  You may also request information from the National Records Center.

Children may attend court proceedings, but they must remain quiet and not cause any distractions. If a child becomes too active or noisy, you and your child may be asked to leave the courtroom.