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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Ind. Courts - More on: "Fill-in judge sought in Huntington"

Updating yesterday's brief ILB entry, the Huntington Herald-Press reports today, in a story by Beth Shindle. Some quotes:

As early as the end of this month, the lone candidate for Huntington Circuit Court judge in 2007 could be appointed full-time judge pro tem for the court.

The Huntington County Bar Association met last Wednesday to discuss current Judge Mark McIntosh's two-month absence from the bench and decided to ask the Indiana Supreme Court to appoint a full-time judge pro tem for the Circuit Court - specifically, to appoint Tom Hakes to the position.

"We're not asking Judge McIntosh to be removed, and he's not resigning," said Huntington County Prosecutor John Branham, who is a member of the bar association and spoke for the group. "This originated because several attorneys, those most involved with the Circuit Court process, including me, got together and discussed what are our options, where could we go from here."

Branham was asked to look further into the matter. He said the full-time pro tem position would continue until McIntosh's term is completed - the 72-year-old judge planned to retire on Dec. 31, 2006 - or until he is able to return to the bench.

Hakes, a Huntington attorney, is thus far the only candidate to succeed McIntosh. He is unopposed in today's Republican primary and no Democrat has filed for the office.

If appointed, Hakes would have "all the authority and all the everything" that McIntosh does, Branham said, including the authority to handle sentencings and trials. He would be paid at the same rate as McIntosh, which is currently $110,500 a year. Hakes has already been serving as one of three judges pro tem in McIntosh's absence at a daily pay rate of $25. * * *

"The bar association did this only after Judge McIntosh had been contacted and understood the process and was in complete agreement," Branham said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 3, 2006 12:34 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts