Indiana Supreme Court

The Indiana Supreme Court was established in 1816 when Indiana became a state. The court is located at Indianapolis within the north wing of the Indiana State House building.

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Indiana Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	5
Founded:	1816
Location:	Indianapolis, Indiana
Judicial selection
Method:	Comm. select., Gov. appt.
Term:	10 years
Active justices
Brent Dickson  •  Robert Rucker  •  Steven David  •  Loretta H. Rush  •  Mark S. Massa  •
Former justices

Justices

The court currently consists of one Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. The Indiana General Assembly has the prerogative under the state's constitution of increasing the number of Associate Justices to a maximum eight for a total of nine Justices.

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by	Party
Chief Justice Brent Dickson	1986-2018	Robert Orr
Justice Robert Rucker	1999-2022	Gov. Frank O'Bannon
Justice Steven David	2010-2022	Gov. Mitch Daniels
Judge Loretta H. Rush	2012-present	Gov. Mitch Daniels
Justice Mark S. Massa	2012-present	Mitch Daniels

Jurisdiction

The Indiana Supreme Court can review decisions of the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Tax Court. According to the Constitution of Indiana, "The Supreme Court shall exercise appellate jurisdiction under such terms and conditions as specified by rules except that appeals from a judgment imposing a sentence of death shall be taken directly to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall have, in all appeals of criminal cases, the power to review all questions of law and to review and revise the sentence imposed."

Judicial selection

Indiana Supreme Court justices are chosen using a Missouri Plan selection system. A list of three nominees is submitted by the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission to the Governor. If the Governor fails to do choose a new justice within 60 days, the Chief Justice or the acting Chief Justice must do so. The appointed justice serves for two years and then must go to general election in a retention election.

Qualifications

To be eligible to serve on the Supreme Court, a person must have practiced law in Indiana for at least 10 years or have served at least five years as a trial court judge. Candidates for appointment presented by the Judicial Nominating Commission must be the "most highly qualified candidates," under Public Law 427 of 1971. Considerations include the candidate's legal education, legal writings, reputation in the practice of law, physical condition, financial interests and activities in public service.

Removal of justices

"Indiana judges may be removed in one of three ways:

• On the recommendation of the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, the supreme court may discipline, suspend, retire, or remove a judge.
• Judges may be impeached by the house of representatives and convicted by the senate.
• Judges may be removed by joint resolution of the general assembly, upon the agreement of two thirds of the members of each house."

Caseloads

Year	Cases pending at start of year	Cases transmitted	Cases disposed	Cases pending at end of year
2010-2011	300	1,095	1,037	358
2009-2010	188	1,029	920	297
2008-2009	211	1,140	1,163	188
2007-2008	196	1,217	1,200	213
2006-2007	227	1,065	1,096	196
2005-2006	235	1,117	1,125	227
2004-2005	247	1,051	1,063	235
2003-2004	200	1,085	1,050	235
2002-2003	254	1,045	1,097	202

Salaries

Yearly salary for both the associate justices and the Chief Justice is $156,295 as of late 2011.

Notable decisions

History of the court

Indiana State Capitol, which contains the Indiana Supreme Court, in Indianapolis

It is governed by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution and is the highest judicial body within Indiana. The first court convened at Corydon, Indiana on May 5, 1817 with three judges appointed by the Governor. These first judges were appointed to seven year terms. In 1925, the seat of government moved to Indianapolis. A new constitution was adopted in 1851, making the judges elected by the people, rather than appointed by the Governor, and provided that the number of justices would be "not less then three, nor more than five judges," and their terms were "for six years, if they so long behave well." In 1853, four districts with four Supreme Court justices began their terms. By 1872, the caseload had grown, and the General Assembly provided an increase in the number of judges to five. In 1891, the General Assembly created an Appellate Court to supplement the Supreme Court, which had jurisdiction limited to appeals on "certain minor classes of cases."

Chief justices

Randall Shepard was the longest serving Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by Governor Robert D. Orr in 1985 at the age of 38, becoming its ninety-ninth justice. He became its chief justice in March 1987 and served until March 2012. The Chief Justice is appointed for terms of five years and presides over the court. When the position of Chief Justice becomes vacant the most senior member of the court serves as the acting Chief Justice until a new Chief Justice is appointed.

Notable firsts

• Justice Myra Consetta Selby was the fist woman and the first African American to serve on the Indiana Supreme Court. She served from January 4th, 1995 to October 7th, 1999.

See also

• News: Applications available for 107th Indiana Supreme Court Justice, December 20, 2011

External links

• indystar.com, "Hamilton Co. judge among 3 finalists for state Supreme Court vacancy," August 8, 2012
• Press Release "Supreme Court Extends Public Comment Period on Rules Regarding Temporary Admission of Certain Attorneys" April 8, 2011
• Indiana Supreme Court Official Site
• History and Origi of the Indiana Supreme Court
• Pro Se Guide to Appellate Procedure
• Pro Se Guide to Tax Court Procedure
• Indiana Rules of Court (Current as of 4/2/2008)
• Indiana Local Rules: Local Rules Standards
• Small Claims Manual (Current as of July 2005)

References

2012

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Judge	Incumbency	Retention vote	Retention Vote %
RuckerRobert Rucker   A	Yes		71.4%A
DavidSteven David   A	Yes		68.9%A