IA HSB260

Allows district associate judges and magistrates to be appointed to serve more than one county, with joint nominations from each county's magistrate appointing commission when serving multiple counties

Requires the Iowa Supreme Court to prescribe a new formula for apportioning magistrates among judicial districts based on estimated case-related workload, replacing the current county-based allocation of 206 magistrates

Changes magistrate residency requirements from county of appointment to requiring residence in the judicial election district or a contiguous county

Creates temporary authority (until January 1, 2029) for chief judges to assign magistrates from one county to fill unfillable vacancies in another county within the same judicial election district, if combined workload does not exceed 31% of a full-time position

Delays implementation of the new magistrate apportionment formula and related appointment procedures until January 1, 2029