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Friday, January 28, 2005

Indiana Courts - Filling Judge Payne's seat on the Marion County Superior Court

The Indianapolis Star has this story today today headlined "5 nominated for judge's post: GOP offers candidates to fill the seat vacated by Judge Payne's move to child welfare job." The story reports that:

There's no guarantee the new judge will take over juvenile court, but Payne's departure signals a major change that will affect the thousands of children who go through the court every year. Judges are considering changes, such as adding a second juvenile court judge and implementing a family court.

"We're going to go through some exciting changes in the way we handle juvenile and family law cases," said Cale Bradford, the presiding judge of the county's 32 Superior Courts. "The public expectations should be high. We will meet those expectations."

Senior Judge Richard Good is overseeing the court while the search is being conducted for a replacement.

In Marion County, the juvenile court judge has more authority and more responsibility than any other elected judge. While most judges manage a staff of about seven people, the juvenile court judge oversees about 220 employees, runs a secure detention center and manages an $11.1 million budget. * * *

There's a chance that whoever is appointed to fill Payne's seat will not end up in juvenile court. Judicial assignments are made by Bradford and two other judges who sit on the Superior Court's executive committee.

Three sitting judges -- Republican William Young and Democrats Evan Goodman and Tanya Walton Pratt -- have expressed interest in moving to the juvenile court, Bradford said.

Another change for the court could be assigning a second judge to hear cases. Bradford said it is a credit to Payne that he managed to handle all the court's responsibilities by himself for the past two decades.

Within the next two years, Bradford said, he hopes to turn Marion County's juvenile court into a family court, which would hear all matters involving children and families.

Family courts, which operate in Boone, Johnson, Monroe and more than a dozen other Indiana counties, have jurisdiction over custody, domestic violence, delinquency and other family-oriented cases.

Andrea Marshall, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana, applauds the idea of bringing a family court to Marion County. She said it's time to find alternatives that will help troubled youths without turning them into criminals.

"I think it's time to try a different approach and see if it will give us better results," Marshall said, "because the current system is not giving us the outcomes we want."

The five names that have been given to Gov. Mitch Daniels by Marion County's GOP chairman Mike Murphy are identified by the Star as:
• Julie Cartmel, a juvenile court magistrate
• Marilyn Moores, an attorney and a former City-County Council member
• Tim Oakes, executive director of the Indiana Cable Telecommunications Association
• Mark Renner, the Marion Superior Court administrator
• Carol Terzo, a Marion Superior Court commissioner, who runs the child support court

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 28, 2005 08:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts