DES MOINES — In his parting remarks, retiring Iowa Supreme Court justice Bruce Zager implored Iowans to protect the state’s system of selecting judges and state leaders to fully fund Iowa’s court system.Zager was honored with a ceremony Wednesday in the Iowa Supreme Court chambers in Des Moines.Zager joined the Iowa Supreme Court in 2011 amid political upheaval: He was one of three justices appointed after social conservatives in 2010 led a successful movement to oust judges after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 2009 in favor of same-sex marriage.In his final official remarks as a Supreme Court justice, Zager said Iowans must keep the state’s judicial retention system, which he said is “constantly under attack.” He praised the quality of judges on Iowa’s Supreme Court and throughout the state’s court system, and said that quality is a direct result of the retention system.In Iowa, high-court judges are not elected.