The Indiana Court of Appeals will celebrate Judge Carr Darden’s 18 years of service at a retirement ceremony July 25. Darden is leaving the court because will turn 75 Saturday, the age of mandatory retirement. He will continue to serve as a senior judge.

Darden told then-Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard and Gov. Mitch Daniels in January that he planned to retire on his 75th birthday. He joined the court in November 1994, appointed by Gov. Evan Bayh. Prior to becoming an appellate judge, Darden was a judge in Marion County.

The Tennessee native and U.S. Air Force veteran graduated from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 1970. Before becoming a judge, he worked as a Marion County and state public defender.

Darden told the Indiana Lawyer  in January that he would have continued to serve as a Court of Appeals judge if he were not required to retire.

“It’s hard to leave the best job in the world, but you know, I hope I can say it was a job well done,” Darden said in a release from the court. “I can definitely say I worked with a lot of great people and I’ll be happy to keep doing that as a senior judge.”

Darden is the second African-American to serve on the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Chief Judge Margret Robb will preside over Darden’s retirement ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in the Indiana Supreme Court courtroom. The ceremony is invitation only, but will be webcast live.

“Judge Darden is an esteemed colleague, a trusted friend and a delightful man,” Robb said. “He’s served our state with distinction and all of us here at the court extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes to him and to Mrs. Darden.”  

Gov. Mitch Daniels has yet to select Darden’s successor. The finalists for the position are Marion Superior Judge Robert Altice Jr., public defender Patricia Caress McMath, and Madison Circuit Judge Rudolph Pyle III. The governor has until Aug. 11 to make the appointment.