2026 Judicial Voter Guide: Polk County District Associate Judges

Election: November 3, 2026 | NAACP Des Moines | Live. Work. Thrive.: Justice Prevails

This nonpartisan guide explains judges on the 2026 Polk County ballot. It presents professional background, the Iowa State Bar Association’s *2026 Judicial Performance Review* as reported by a public voter guide, and directions to official judicial records and independent case-search tools. We make no retention recommendation and no ranking of judges.

Understanding the survey

The bar association surveyed Iowa attorneys familiar with judges’ work. The retention percentage reports the share of respondents who answered that the judge should be retained; it is not an NAACP recommendation or a measure of all voters’ opinions. Category ratings are separate average responses on a five-point scale. Numbers of respondents differ across judges, and lawyer feedback is not an independent finding about any particular decision or person.

What a District Associate judge does

District associate judges handle several types of matters, including misdemeanor cases, some Class D felony cases, smaller civil claims, and juvenile matters when assigned. Juvenile and family-related records may be confidential or less accessible than published appellate opinions. That creates substantial gaps when trying to infer a judge’s overall record from only published cases.

The following six judges stand for retention in Polk County’s District Associate Court (District 5C).

Kimberly Ayotte

Court: District Associate Court, District 5C. Professional background: Appointed in 2019 after 23 years as a Youth Law Center staff attorney, working in child welfare law.

Attorney performance survey

Attorney survey (2026): 85.7% indicated support for retention; 63 attorneys responding to that judge's evaluation. The following are individual survey items, each on a 1–5 scale, not a combined score:

• Knowledge/application of the law: 4.2/5

• Temperament and demeanor: 3.9/5

• Perceived equal treatment, including implicit-bias awareness: 4.3/5

• Deciding cases based on law and fact, free of outside influence: 4.2/5

Where to research this judge's decisions

Review the official court records linked in the resources section below. The optional independent index provides a starting point for finding cases; verify information against the original court opinion or case docket. No rulings have been selected or evaluated by the NAACP.

Optional LegisHawk case index (independent, not an official court source): https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/trial/kimberly-ayotte

Jordan Brackey

Court: District Associate Court, District 5C. Professional background: Appointed in 2024; previously an assistant county attorney in Webster and Polk counties.

Attorney performance survey

Attorney survey (2026): 98.0% indicated support for retention; 50 attorneys responding to that judge's evaluation. The following are individual survey items, each on a 1–5 scale, not a combined score:

• Knowledge/application of the law: 4.7/5

• Temperament and demeanor: 4.7/5

• Perceived equal treatment, including implicit-bias awareness: 4.7/5

• Deciding cases based on law and fact, free of outside influence: 4.6/5

Where to research this judge's decisions

Review the official court records linked in the resources section below. The optional independent index provides a starting point for finding cases; verify information against the original court opinion or case docket. No rulings have been selected or evaluated by the NAACP.

Optional LegisHawk case index (independent, not an official court source): https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/trial/jordan-brackey

Brendan L. Greiner

Court: District Associate Court, District 5C. Professional background: Appointed in 2018; previously an assistant county attorney in Polk and Story counties. Survey measures are attorney perceptions, not independent findings of misconduct.

Attorney performance survey

Attorney survey (2026): 63.7% indicated support for retention; 102 attorneys responding to that judge's evaluation. The following are individual survey items, each on a 1–5 scale, not a combined score:

• Knowledge/application of the law: 3.9/5

• Temperament and demeanor: 3.1/5

• Perceived equal treatment, including implicit-bias awareness: 3.7/5

• Deciding cases based on law and fact, free of outside influence: 3.4/5

Where to research this judge's decisions

Review the official court records linked in the resources section below. The optional independent index provides a starting point for finding cases; verify information against the original court opinion or case docket. No rulings have been selected or evaluated by the NAACP.

Optional LegisHawk case index (independent, not an official court source): https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/trial/brendan-greiner

Lynn Poschner

Court: District Associate Court, District 5C. Professional background: Appointed in 2018 after private law practice.

Attorney performance survey

Attorney survey (2026): 100.0% indicated support for retention; 52 attorneys responding to that judge's evaluation. The following are individual survey items, each on a 1–5 scale, not a combined score:

• Knowledge/application of the law: 4.6/5

• Temperament and demeanor: 4.7/5

• Perceived equal treatment, including implicit-bias awareness: 4.8/5

• Deciding cases based on law and fact, free of outside influence: 4.5/5

Where to research this judge's decisions

Review the official court records linked in the resources section below. The optional independent index provides a starting point for finding cases; verify information against the original court opinion or case docket. No rulings have been selected or evaluated by the NAACP.

Optional LegisHawk case index (independent, not an official court source): https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/trial/lynn-poschner

Ashley Stewart

Court: District Associate Court, District 5C. Professional background: Appointed in 2024; previously practiced criminal defense and served as an assistant appellate defender.

Attorney performance survey

Attorney survey (2026): 88.9% indicated support for retention; 54 attorneys responding to that judge's evaluation. The following are individual survey items, each on a 1–5 scale, not a combined score:

• Knowledge/application of the law: 4.1/5

• Temperament and demeanor: 4.4/5

• Perceived equal treatment, including implicit-bias awareness: 4.5/5

• Deciding cases based on law and fact, free of outside influence: 4.2/5

Where to research this judge's decisions

Review the official court records linked in the resources section below. The optional independent index provides a starting point for finding cases; verify information against the original court opinion or case docket. No rulings have been selected or evaluated by the NAACP.

Optional LegisHawk case index (independent, not an official court source): https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/trial/ashley-stewart

Tabitha L. Turner

Court: District Associate Court, District 5C. Professional background: Appointed in 2019; previously practiced criminal defense and family law and worked in mediation.

Attorney performance survey

Attorney survey (2026): 91.0% indicated support for retention; 67 attorneys responding to that judge's evaluation. The following are individual survey items, each on a 1–5 scale, not a combined score:

• Knowledge/application of the law: 4.2/5

• Temperament and demeanor: 4.5/5

• Perceived equal treatment, including implicit-bias awareness: 4.7/5

• Deciding cases based on law and fact, free of outside influence: 4.2/5

Where to research this judge's decisions

Review the official court records linked in the resources section below. The optional independent index provides a starting point for finding cases; verify information against the original court opinion or case docket. No rulings have been selected or evaluated by the NAACP.

Optional LegisHawk case index (independent, not an official court source): https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/trial/tabitha-turner

Original sources and further reading

• Iowa Judicial Branch: Judicial selection and retention — https://www.iowacourts.gov/for-the-public/educational-resources-and-services/judicial-selection-and-retention

• 2026 ISBA evaluation data, reproduced with named judges and question-level detail — https://iavoterguide.org/judicial-retention

• Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission: why appellate reversals alone cannot determine a judge's quality — https://www.iowajnc.gov/judicial-retention-elections/what-about-decisions-reversed-by-a-higher-court/

• Iowa Judicial Branch: court assignment and jurisdiction — https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/district-court/how-judges-are-assigned-to-new-cases

• Iowa Judicial Branch: appellate procedure — https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/appellate-procedure-overview

Where to find judicial opinions and court records

Iowa's appellate opinions are publicly available, but trial-court rulings are not collected in one complete public online archive. Iowa Courts Online shows public dockets but not necessarily the actual documents; for a trial-court ruling, contact the clerk of court in the county where the case was filed. Confidential cases may not be accessible.

• Iowa Judicial Branch: appellate opinions (official) — https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/court-of-appeals/court-of-appeals-court-opinions/

• Iowa Courts Online: public case dockets (official) — https://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/

• Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission: how to find rulings (official) — https://www.iowajnc.gov/judicial-retention-elections/how-do-i-find-a-judges-decisions-or-rulings

• Iowa Judicial Branch: judicial retention and ISBA evaluations (official) — https://www.iowacourts.gov/for-the-public/educational-resources-and-services/judicial-selection-and-retention

• LegisHawk: how to read a judge record (independent; AI-assisted analysis) — https://legishawk.app/ia/judges/guide/

• Justia: Iowa Court of Appeals opinions, 2026 (third-party republication) — https://law.justia.com/cases/iowa/court-of-appeals/2026/

LegisHawk and Justia are third-party discovery tools, not official court records. LegisHawk includes some AI-assisted classification and summaries. The selection of cases in a searchable index is not a complete account of a judge's work; an appellate reversal or affirmance alone does not establish judicial quality.

• Original Iowa State Bar Association 2026 Judicial Performance Review (official report access): https://www.iowabar.org/?pg=JudicialEvaluations

Research and editorial note

This is a nonpartisan NAACP Des Moines voter-education resource. It does not endorse, oppose, rank, grade, or recommend retention or removal of any judge. All reported scores come from the Iowa State Bar Association's survey of attorneys, as reproduced in public election research. The original ISBA report is linked for direct review. No individual judicial rulings have been selected or evaluated by the branch. Research review updated: November 1, 2026.