Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed former State Representative Dustin Hite as a District Court judge. The governor’s office announced the appointment on November 29, one day before the end of the 30-day window for Reynolds to name either Hite or the other nominee for the position, Keokuk County attorney Amber Thompson.

Hite served two terms in the state legislature, and as chair of the House Education Committee helped enact some of Reynolds’ agenda. He fast-tracked bills in 2021 that required schools to provide fully in-person instruction as an option, and prohibited school districts and local governments from imposing mask mandates.

However, Hite earned the governor’s wrath by not bringing school voucher bills up for a vote in the Education Committee during the 2021 or 2022 legislative sessions. In addition, he opted not to assign school “bathroom bills” to a subcommittee, and opposed various “tort reform” proposals to limit damages Iowans could recover in medical malpractice cases or lawsuits involving trucking companies. 

Hite was among four House Republicans who opposed school voucher bills and subsequently lost their 2022 primaries after Reynolds endorsed GOP rivals. The governor recorded a robocall urging voters to back Helena Hayes in Hite’s district. Hayes was just re-elected to a second term representing House district 88.

The governor passed the former legislator over for a District Court judgeship in June 2023, instead appointing a plaintiff’s attorney who had donated to Democratic candidates. Hite then ran successfully for mayor of New Sharon, a position he had held before serving in the Iowa House.  He has a private law practice based in Oskaloosa and has been city attorney for eleven small towns in Jasper, Poweshiek, Mahaska, and Keokuk counties.

Hite wrote on his judicial application that serving on the bench “has been a goal of mine since I started practice.” Thanks to his varied experience—”including criminal law, family law, juvenile law, business law, probate and estate planning, litigation, municipal law, taxes, and real estate”—he has a “broad range of knowledge” across subjects that may come before a District Court judge on any given day.

He also said he wants to address the judiciary’s changing needs, “embracing technology to be the most efficient possible” and finding solutions to problems such as the growing number of litigants who represent themselves rather than hiring an attorney.

Judicial District 8A covers Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Poweshiek, Van Buren, Wapello, and Washington counties in southeast Iowa.

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Dustin Hite’s judicial application, submitted in October 2024: