Marsha Ternus

Marsha K. Ternus (born May 30, 1951) is an American lawyer. She has served on Iowa's Supreme Court as Justice and Chief Justice. She was the first woman to serve as Chief Justice on Iowa's Supreme Court, where she served for four years. Iowa's governor at the time, Terry Branstad, nominated her to the Supreme Court in 1993. Later in 2006, her colleagues would vote her as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Voters removed her and two of her colleagues from the court in December 2010, after voting to legalize gay marriage in Iowa. She served from September 7, 1993, to December 31, 2010.

Early life and education Marsha K. Ternus was born on May 30, 1951. She continued her education going into Drake University's law school, where she graduated in 1977 with honors and Order of the Coif. During her time at Drake Law School she also served as Editor-in-Chief of Drake Law Review

Early career After law school Marsha started working in law's private sector within Des Moines IA. She spent 16 years working for a law firm called Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor and Fairgrave where she focused mainly on civil litigation and insurance law.

Path to Iowa Supreme Court She got her first opportunity to serve on the Iowa Supreme Court in 1993, Iowa's governor, Terry Branstad, nominated her. In 2006 other justices voted her to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. She was the first woman to serve as Chief Justice of Iowa's highest court. Some of those groups include the Iowans for Freedom (IFF) group and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

She also advocated and participated in reforming Iowa's child welfare. With a main focus being on improving court oversight of child welfare cases, she chaired State Children’s Justice Council.

During this time she also helped implement the electronic document system for the Iowa court.

Marsha Ternus, along with two of her colleagues, were removed from office in 2010 after a judicial retention election. This is primarily from campaigns by groups opposed to same-sex marriage. From 2015 to 2022 she also served on the board of directors for the Iowa Public Radio. She chaired a total of seven years at the council. along with fellow justices David L. Baker and Michael Streit.