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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Ind. Courts - More on: Indiana Supreme Court Approves Enhanced Education Requirement for Judicial Officers

Supplementing this ILB entry from August 25th, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an editorial today on the new education requirements for judges, plus the proposed restructuring of the Indiana courts. It concludes:

In setting the education requirements, the Supreme Court put into place the recommendation over the one area over which it has the most control. That move should spur the General Assembly to begin looking at the other proposals, which require legislative action.

One overdue measure would reduce the number of judicial titles to help the public better understand the roles. Indiana has judges, magistrates, commissioners and referees – and few people know the differences in their duties. The measure would also require all judges to be attorneys; some city and town court judges are elected and do not have legal backgrounds.

The “New Way Forward” report also suggests reducing the number of types of various trial-level courts. Indiana has 105 circuit courts, 211 superior courts, 75 city and town courts, nine small claims courts and a probate court. “Explaining the jurisdiction of each court is difficult, complicated and confusing,” the report notes. It doesn’t help that the legislature has passed into law many changes that apply only to specific counties, some the result of local politics. More controversial portions of the report would transfer court record-keeping from county clerks to the judges and develop one method of selecting judges – there are seven now, a mix of appointments and elections.

These recommendations warrant serious study by the General Assembly.

The Supreme Court’s action in increasing educational requirements for judges will serve Hoosiers well – and should be the first step to restructure Indiana courts.

For more, start with this Oct. 1, 2009 ILB entry.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 26, 2010 12:30 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts