Governor Kim Reynolds, her staff, and security detail used a non-public elevator and “walked down the secure hallway” where Iowa Supreme Court justices have private offices before attending the April 11 oral arguments in a major abortion-related case.

“Neither the justices, supreme court staff, or Judicial Branch Building security knew or gave permission for the governor or Iowa State Highway Patrol to access the supreme court’s non-public office space” at that time, according to Molly Kottmeyer, counsel to Chief Justice Susan Christensen.

At Christensen’s request, Kottmeyer wrote on April 12 to attorneys involved with two cases argued the previous day. In Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Reynolds, the governor is seeking to lift a permanent injunction on a 2018 law that would ban nearly all abortions. The Iowa State Patrol is a defendant in Hedlund v. State of Iowa, a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Department of Criminal Investigation Agent Larry Hedlund.

Reynolds’ appearance in the courtroom surprised many observers. It’s extremely unusual for a governor to attend an Iowa Supreme Court hearing in person. Reynolds has appointed five of the seven current justices, and four of the six who will decide the latest abortion case. (Justice Dana Oxley recused herself from that matter.)

I am not aware of any precedent for parties to a pending case to enter the Iowa Supreme Court chamber from the justices’ private area. Attorneys, litigants, and members of the public typically walk through the main entrance near the back of the courtoom, as seen from this camera angle.

Kottmeyer’s letter emphasized that the justices did not authorize Reynolds and her entourage to enter their private area.

Unbeknownst to the supreme court or judicial branch staff, the patrol used their Judicial Branch Building security access to enter the Judicial Branch Building and escort Governor Reynolds to the 4th floor in non-public elevators. Presumably they did so for a security-related reason of their own.

The letter goes on to explain that the justices and Iowa Supreme Court staff observed Reynolds, State Patrol officers, and her staff in the “secure hallway” from which they entered the courtroom, but had not given permission to do so. “At no other time that day did the justices and court staff have contact with parties to the cases heard.”

The chief justice may have instructed her counsel to send the letter because Iowa’s Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 51.2.9 reflects accepted legal standards discouraging ex parte communication (that is, “communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers”).

A subsection of the Iowa rule states, “If a judge inadvertently receives an unauthorized ex parte communication bearing upon the substance of a matter, the judge shall make provision promptly to notify the parties of the substance of the communication and provide the parties with an opportunity to respond.”

The governor’s spokesperson Kollin Crompton did not reply to Bleeding Heartland’s inquiry about how Reynolds accessed the court’s secured area, and whether her presence there could create the impression that she was trying to influence the justices.

Crompton told Iowa Capital Dispatch, “due to legitimate security concerns, and at the direction of Iowa State Patrol, Gov. Reynolds was escorted through the non-public entrance and elevator of the courtroom. After exiting the elevator on the 4th floor, the governor went directly to the courtroom and had no contact or conversation with any justices or staff members of the court.”

It’s not clear what security concerns would require the governor to use non-public elevators and hallways in a building that is well-guarded. Visitors to the Iowa Judicial Branch must walk through a metal detector and put all bags or cases through an x-ray scanner before proceeding to any part of the building.

Avoiding public entrances, elevators, and hallways would benefit Reynolds in another way, though: it would keep her from interacting with any of the journalists who were on the premises to cover the abortion case hearing.

Do you know of any previous time when an Iowa governor attended Supreme Court oral arguments? Contact Laura Belin confidentially.

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Appendix: April 12 letter from Molly Kottmeyer to attorneys involved in Planned Parenthood v. Reynolds and Hedlund v. State of Iowa

Top image: Governor Kim Reynolds speaks at the Iowa Prayer Breakfast on April 6, 2023. Cropped from a photo first published on her official Facebook page.