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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Ind. Courts - Governor fills three slots on the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission

The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications / Judicial Nominating Commission are central to Indiana's judicial branch of government:

The purpose of the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications is to investigate complaints alleging judicial ethical misconduct, to prosecute violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct when warranted, and to advise judges and judicial candidates about their ethical obligations.

The purpose of the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission is to select nominees to fill vacancies on the Indiana Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Tax Court, to select the Chief Justice of Indiana, and to certify former Indiana judges as Senior Judges.

The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications and the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission are two constitutionally-established commissions comprised of the same seven members. The Chief Justice of Indiana is the ex officio Chair of the Commissions. The Chief Justice serves five-year terms. The other six members are three lay citizens appointed by the Governor and three lawyers elected by other lawyers, all to three-year terms.

The Judicial Nominating Commission recruits and interviews applicants to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Tax Court, and the Governor appoints one of the Commission's three nominees for each vacancy. Additionally, the Nominating Commission selects the Chief Justice of Indiana from among the five Justices on the Indiana Supreme Court. Finally, the Nominating Commission certifies former Indiana judges as Senior Judges to serve in Indiana 's courts.

In an ILB entry dated Dec. 12, 2006, I wrote in part:
Who is on the judicial nominating commission? This Court webpage, which indicates it was last modified 6/13/06, lists the members, but does not distinguish between attorney members, elected by the bar, and citizen members, appointed by the Governor. From p. 5 of my paper, "Analysis of another effort to alter the Indiana judicial selection and retention process":
The three attorney members on the current Commission were elected for three years rather than six, and their terms do not expire at the same time. Rather, the term of James O. McDonald, Terre Haute (First District), ends December 31, 2006; the term of James H. Young, Indianapolis (Second District), ends December 31, 2007; and the term of Sherrill Wm. Colvin, Fort Wayne (Third District), ends December 31, 2008.

The citizen members of the Commission, appointed by the Governor, also now have three-year terms rather than six-year terms. The term of Derrel E. Zellers, Tell City (First District), ends December 31, 2007; and the term of Payton Wells, Indianapolis (Second District), ends December 31, 2006.

The citizen commissioner slot for the Third District has been vacant since March 2005 when the serving commissioner resigned. That three-year term for the Third District expired December 31, 2005. The opening is now in a new cycle that runs through December 31, 2008. Although IC 33-2.1-4-1(e)17 requires that “vacancies in the office of non-attorney commissioners shall be filled by the governor within sixty days after he has notice of such vacancy,” the Third District spot has been unfilled now for approximately one year.

As far as the ILB knows, the Governor still has not filled the vacant 3rd District citizen posiition, vacant now since March 2005.
The Governor now has made appointments, but they do not seem to have been announced anywhere (although they do now show on the Court page, which now indicates it was last modified 1/3/07 - and, if I may say so, could provide a little more information about the members' terms). In addition, the members of the bar in the First District have elected a new atttorney member. Here is the current makeup of the Commission.

Attorney members, elected for 3-year terms by members of the bar of their district:

Citizen members, appointed for 3-year terms by the Governor:

[Note that under IC 33-27-2-1(e) [formerly IC 33-2.1-4-1(e)], "The term of the nonattorney commissioner appointed to fill the vacancy is for the unexpired term of the member whose vacancy the new nonattorney commissioner has filled."]

Why are these appointments particularly important? Court of Appeals Judge Patrick D. Sullivan has announced he is retiring later this year. At least one other member of the Court of Appeals is approaching age 75, which is the retirement age for appeals court judges in Indiana.
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[Thanks to K. Paul Mallasch of http://www.kpaulmedia.com for alerting me to these changes.]

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 10, 2007 08:15 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts