Becker was appointed to the vacant district associate judge seat in Hamilton, Hardin and Wright counties on Friday by the District Court judges in Iowa Judicial District 2B.

The vacancy was created by the appointment of Judge Derek Johnson to the 2B District Court bench in December.

“I applied to become a district associate judge because I have a strong passion for the juvenile and criminal justice areas of the law,” Becker told The Messenger. “I also applied because I want the greater responsibility to ensure a judicial system continues to work fairly, efficiently, and to the greatest benefit of all people in our community.”

The district associate judge covers district associate court cases in Hamilton, Hardin and Wright counties; magistrate level cases in Hamilton and Hardin counties; juvenile work in Hamilton and Wright counties and other case work.

Becker joined the Webster County Attorney’s Office in January 2015, after graduating from University of Iowa College of Law in 2014. For the past seven years, he has mainly handled the county’s juvenile law caseload, serving as the Juvenile Division Chief, as well as some lower-level felony offense cases and treatment courts.

“It’s kind of been a dream of mine to be a judge,” Becker said. “And I believe my position as an assistant county attorney has prepared me for this.”

Webster County Attorney Darren Driscoll said Becker has been an asset to the office since he started.

“We in the Webster County Attorney’s office are incredibly proud of Hans and know he will continue to be an asset to the citizens of the State of Iowa as a district associate judge,” Driscoll said in a statement. “At the same time, we will be sad to lose him as part of our team. Hans has been a wonderful colleague and friend and will be greatly missed.”

Becker said it was an honor and humbling to be selected by the same District Court judges he’s been arguing cases in front of as an assistant county attorney.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege to be able to serve the citizens of Webster County for the past seven years,” he said. “I’ll really miss all the relationships that I built within our Webster County judicial system, but I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to serve an even greater portion of our district.”

Becker is expected to assume his new judicial duties on March 14. Driscoll said he hopes to fill the assistant county attorney opening by the end of spring.