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Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Ind. Courts - Effort is being mounted to consolidate all six of the courts in Madison County under one administrative umbrella
Ken de la Bastide has an extended report today for the Anderson Herald Bulletin. Some quotes:
An effort is being mounted to consolidate all six of the courts in Madison County under one administrative umbrella.Legislation is expected to be introduced during the 2006 legislative session to make all the Madison County courts divisions of Circuit Court.
Currently, the three Superior and two County courts operate as the Unified Court System with a central administration overseeing the budget and operations.
The five judges in the Unified Court System support the consolidation, as well as the Madison County Bar Association, consisting of local attorneys and Prosecutor Rodney Cummings. Circuit Court Judge Fred Spencer opposes it.
A similar effort was made to make the six courts divisions of Circuit Court in the 1980s, but it was defeated in a Senate committee.
Sen. Tim Lanane, D-25th District, said he has been contacted about sponsoring the legislation.
“I would hope the judges will come to some agreement,” he said. “I’m more than willing to carry the bill if there is a consensus among the judges.”
Spencer said only Monroe and Delaware counties have a Circuit Court with a number of divisions.
“There is an effort to adopt the Monroe County plan instead of having Circuit and Superior courts as in every other county,” Spencer said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 27, 2005 02:34 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts