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Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Ind. Courts - Judge retiring in LaPorte County; Madison County court system employee guilty plea; wider jury pool lauded

Judge Gilmore to retire. LaPorte Circuit Court Judge Robert Gilmore won't run again, according to this story in the LaPorte Argus Herald. "Gilmore told The Herald-Argus Tuesday morning that when his second six-year term ends on Dec. 31, 2006, he’ll be looking for alternatives beyond the fairways. ... “I’ve absolutely loved (my tenure),” Gilmore said. “And I’m proud of the juvenile issues and school programs.”

Manager admits thefts from courts. An AP story this afternoon reports:

An office manager for the Madison County court system has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $64,000 from the county over four years. Pamela King, 38, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of forgery and three felony charges of theft Monday in Madison Circuit Court.

King admitted stealing $64,029 from the Madison County Unified Courts between 2001 and 2004. She has already repaid $2,857 for making unauthorized purchases on a county credit card. * * *

King allegedly stole the money by filing fraudulent claims for payment, according to a probable cause affidavit. Sometimes she was paid for transcripts not ordered by a court, while other times she submitted claims for work another court employee did, police said. She also overcharged the county for transcripts, police said.

The forgery charge states that King used a judge's signature stamp without permission to authorize payment of her claims.

High Court makes jury duty tougher to evade. A story Monday in the Michigan City News-Dispatch reports on the new rule from the Supreme Court that "will allow jury pools to be selected from a master list that draws not only from voter registration records, but also from Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Department of Revenue records." For more, see this Oct. 24, 2005 ILB entry titled "Jury pool to widen."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 13, 2005 05:10 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts