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Saturday, December 23, 2006

Ind. Courts - Grant Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hunt retiring

Sean Driscoll of the Marion Chronicle-Tribune writes today on Grant Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hunt, who is stepping down at the end of the year. Some quotes:

Like an excited kid putting a new Christmas toy through the paces, Thomas Hunt used his infrared mouse to close a document on his shiny new Dell notebook computer.

"Isn't this cool? Look at this," he said Thursday, waving his wireless mouse in the air, making it do tricks.

He then reached down to his office computer and yanked out a flash drive hanging from a lanyard.

"A month ago, I didn't even know what this was," he said, laughing as he inserted the drive into his laptop.

Hunt is going to have to learn a few new tricks when the calendar rolls over into the new year. At 58, he's had two jobs: a rookie lawyer at a downtown law firm and judge of Grant Circuit Court.

Now he's starting his third, and it's taking him back to the downtown law office where as a young buck, just out of law school, he began his career in 1973.

Hunt will be an attorney at Kiley, Harker & Certain, just a few blocks away from the Grant County Courthouse. He'll work as a civil mediator, meeting with disputing parties to resolve cases before they end up in a courtroom.

Trying to keep things out of court will be quite a change for a man who's been on the bench for nearly half his life, presiding over 278 trials.

"I had to get out and do something else, give those other muscles a workout. I'm looking forward to that," he said. "Change is good. We all need change."

It will be quite a change, not only for Hunt, but also for the county judicial system. At 26 years, Hunt's is the longest tenure a judge has served in Grant County, and he was the senior judge on the bench. When Mark Spitzer, Hunt's elected successor, takes office Jan. 1, the county's four judges will have 20 years of experience among them.

Six years ago, those at the helm in the same courtrooms boasted 77 years of experience.

But in the last few years, Hunt said he's seen a lot of sharp thinking and new ideas coming from his relatively new colleagues, and he has complete confidence that Spitzer will make a fine addition to the group.

"It's a shift, but not necessarily a bad one. Maybe staying here makes you stagnant, not open to new ideas," Hunt said.

He's confident the Courthouse will get on without him and life will continue past Dec. 31.

This November 10th ILB entry quoted another Chronicle-Tribune story, reporting on a suit filed by Judge Hunt "to regain the $5,000 in supplemental salary that the county cut in Grant Superior Court 1." The ILB has no information on the status of that action.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 23, 2006 06:38 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts