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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ind. Courts - More on: "St. Joe County judges' election bill gets Senate OK;" plus some observations from the ILB

Updating this ILB entry from April 16th, which included this paragraph about the language in HB 1491 (currently in conference committee) to add a 6th panel to the Indiana Court of Appeals:

A second point is that the current Court of Appeals caseload does not justify the creation of another panel. The Court is well run, smoothly operating, and has no trouble handling the cases. Earlier this year, I heard from very reliable sources that there were very few cases before the Court. Business has picked up since then and the Court is again at what appears to me to be its normal load, which the current COA judges handle with much efficiency. It would seem that some professional caseload analysis should precede the creation of a new multi-million dollar a year panel.
Tracy Warner, editorial page editor of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, has this commentary today about HB 1491:
Politics is at play in House Bill 1491, which would change the method of choosing Superior Court judges in Lake and St. Joseph counties – two Democrat-dominated counties – from appointment to election. While that move is the subject of worthy debate, the Indiana Senate has tacked on a separate move to create a sixth Indiana court of appeals with three more appellate judges. All would be appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The big question for legislators and for public policy: Is the new court – estimated to cost $2 million to $3 million in the upcoming budget – necessary to expedite appeals, or is the Republican-controlled Senate looking for a way to give the Republican governor a way to appoint three more key judges?

Well, he is wrong about one thing -- HB 1491 does not propose to change the method of selecting Lake County judges, only St. Joe County.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 21, 2009 09:05 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts