DES MOINES, IOWA (August 10, 2023) — Governor Kim Reynolds has announced her appointment of Samuel Langholz as a judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals. Langholz, of Ankeny, Iowa, serves in the Attorney General’s Office, where he is currently the Chief Deputy Attorney General under Attorney General Brenna Bird and was previously the Assistant Solicitor General under Attorney General Tom Miller.
Langholz has extensive experience in civil, criminal, and appellate law having practiced in both state and federal courts. He has served as the Chief Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Inspections and Appeals, as Senior Legal Counsel to Gov Reynolds, as the State Public Defender, and as an associate attorney for a civil law firm.
Langholz received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he graduated manga cum laude. He received his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law. Langholz graduated first in his class (out of 206 students) and was a member of the Order of the Coif. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Steven M Colloton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
“I’m pleased to name an accomplished legal mind in Samuel Langholz to the Court of Appeals,” Gov Reynolds said. “He is a committed public servant with broad experience, having represented clients at every level of our state and federal court systems, and a demonstrated commitment to the craft of legal writing and reasoning.”
Langholz will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Anuradha Vaitheswaran.
