« Ind. Law - More on taking private property for private development | Main | Ind. Gov't. - Star editorials reflect on recent stories »
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Ind. Courts - More on Marion County Juvenile Court appointment
"New judge will have less power: Court officials spread out much of the control that juvenile court judge built up in 2 decades" is the headline to this story by Vic Ryckaert today in the Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:
Marion County court officials announced Monday they are diluting the juvenile court judge's authority over several significant court functions.Officials are consolidating the administrative duties of the juvenile court, a move that will give newly appointed Judge Marilyn Ann Moores far less control than her predecessor, James Payne, over administrative and policy decisions regarding the county's juvenile justice system.
We're trying as much as we can to make that judicial responsibility mirror everybody else's judicial responsibility," said Judge Robyn Moberly, a member of the three-judge executive committee that oversees the county's 32 Superior Courts.
The executive committee is dismantling the controls Payne built in two decades on the bench, but officials are quick to say they are not criticizing his methods.
Instead, they credit Payne for his "superhuman" abilities to assume so much responsibility.
"None of us on the bench could have stepped into that job very easily," Moberly said. "It's just Herculean. I don't know how one man ever did it." * * *
While most judges in Marion County are directly responsible for their staff of about a half-dozen employees, Payne was in charge of more than 200 workers in the court, detention center, probation and other areas.
Under the new rules, Presiding Judge Cale Bradford was named the chair of the county's juvenile division and will shape court policy in consultation with Moores.
The juvenile court's administration will merge with the Superior Court; hirings, firings and other duties will be handled by current court administrator Mark Renner.
The juvenile probation department is coming under the command of the adult probation system and will be led by Chief Probation Officer Robert Bingham.
Another change came earlier this year when the executive committee assumed control of the 144-bed juvenile detention center.
Consolidation measures, Bradford said, are likely to save the county money while they spread the duties among several people.
"One judge shouldn't have to be a jailer, a chief probation officer, an administrator and a judge," Bradford said. "Judge Payne did a remarkable job carrying that load for too many years."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 15, 2005 06:46 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts