Anyone interested in being the next Indiana Tax Court judge has just about a month to apply for that position.

The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission is accepting applications until Sept. 20 for the post, which will become vacant at year’s end once Judge Thomas G. Fisher steps down. He is the first and only appellate tax judge since the court’s creation in 1986, and the 70-year-old jurist announced earlier this month his plan to retire Jan. 1 before he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 75.

To fill that seat, the seven-member commission will conduct initial interviews on Sept. 27 and determine who should be brought back for second interviews Oct. 27. Commission members will forward three finalists’ names on to Gov. Mitch Daniels, who makes the final selection.

A candidate must be an Indiana resident and a Hoosier attorney in good standing for at least five years. All applications are due by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 20, according to the application form. The annual salary for Tax Court judge is $150,103, and those interested in applying can contact commission counsel Adrienne Meiring at ameiring@courts.state.in.us or (317) 232-4706. More information and the application itself can be found online at the state court’s website.