The Iowa Court of Appeals has elected Judge Thomas Bower of Cedar Falls as its chief judge. Bower, a member of the appeals court since 2012, replaces Chief Judge Gayle Nelson Vogel, who recently retired. Bower is the 10th chief judge since 1976 when the Iowa Legislature established the appeals court. “I am honored and humbled to be elected as chief judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals by my colleagues. I look forward to maintaining the high standards of fairness and efficiency we have set for ourselves and the people of the state of Iowa,” Bower said in a news release. Bower received his bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University in 1984 and his law degree from Drake University in 1987. Before his appointment in 1993 as a district associate judge, Bower was an assistant city attorney for Ames and an assistant county attorney for Black Hawk County.