The chief judge for the 7th Judicial District in eastern Iowa will retire Thursday. Bobbi Alpers will step down after 6 years as chief judge, and 21 years on the bench.
After law school, Alpers first worked as a clerk for the judges in the 7th district, then practiced family and juvenile law. Several years later she began serving as a magistrate or part-time judge, then became a judge full time in 1992. One of her most memorable trials involved a woman charged with killing her baby.
"It was just a very difficult subject, and the fact that there wasn't the wisdom of 12 people on the jury to make the decision made it very, very challenging. And it was early in my career. I'm glad I did it but at the time it was a very hard thing to do."
She found the mother guilty, and the woman is now serving a life sentence.
Alpers won't be completely retired - she'll still serve as a senior judge, and can be called to hear cases if there's a heavy trial load, or to fill in if there's a vacancy or someone is sick. She also plans to spend some time at home, travel, and help her husband next summer when he takes pictures for a book about the Iowa State Fair.
The new chief judge for the district including Scott, Muscatine, Cedar, Clinton, and Jackson counties will be Marlita Greve.