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Thursday, March 11, 2010

Ind. Courts - More on: HEA 1491, vetoed last year, is on today's House calendar

As the ILB reported yesterday morning, HEA 1491 from the 2009 regular session, which would abolish merit selection of St. Joseph Superior Court Judges and also would create a 6th Court of Appeals panel, is on the House calendar for a vote.

A simple majority vote in each house before adjournment is all that is needed to override the veto. Otherwise, the veto will stand.

Here is some background on HEA 1491-2009: The original House bill proposed to make all St. Joesph County judges elective. Some are now appointed via a merit system. Lake is the only other county where all judges are not elected. Many have thought of these two counties as the models for future efforts to make all county judges merit.

The Senate added the provision to create a 6th Court of Appeals panel. The House agreed to the Senate change. There has been no demonstrated need for a new multi-million dollar appellate panel.

Here is Governor Daniels veto message from 2009:

The current method of selecting judges for the St. Joseph Superior Court has prevailed successfully for 35 years. It is a model to be emulated, not discarded. It is not broken; it requires no repair. It has produced outstanding jurists and contains sufficient measures of public accountability. I believe it neither necessary nor wise to re-politicize the courts of St. Joseph County.

The addition of another panel to the Court of Appeals at $2 million per year is difficult to justify in today’s challenging fiscal environment. Moreover, if I were to sign a bill linking these two proposals, it could contribute to public cynicism by creating the appearance that my acquiescence was purchased with more appointments. Whatever the merits of expanding the Court of Appeals may be, they should be considered alone.

Fiscal impact: If the House and Senate vote to override last year's veto a new, 6th panel of three Court of Appeals judges will begin operating on July 1, 2011. The LSA projections are that the impact of the new panel over a two-year period will be nearly $4.5 million. That is at a time when government is severely cutting back services and fighting for every dollar of savings.

Is there a need for a new Court? No, a 6th panel for the Court of Appeals is unnecessary at this time. There was no request from the Court for a 6th panel, no claim that it was overburdened. To the contrary, the current Court of Appeals, consisting of five 3-judges panels, is well run, smoothly operating, and has no trouble handling the current caseload. In short, the workload does not justify creation of a new $4.5 million panel.

What can you do? There isn't much time. If you feel strongly one way or the other, you can contact your legislator, preferably this morning. The House must vote first on the override, if it fails there, the bill is dead. If it passes, the vetoed bill must also pass an overide vote in the Senate. An override requires only a majority vote in each house.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 11, 2010 06:20 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government