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Applications for two vacancies on the Marion Superior Court are now available online following Judge James Osborn’s decision to retire, the Marion County Judicial Selection Committee announced Tuesday.
One of the openings was also created after the committee voted in March that Judge Gary Miller was not suitable to serve another term – a new requirement for maintaining the Marion County bench that the Legislature approved earlier this year.
Miller has been permitted to finish his term, which runs through Dec. 31, 2026, but he is ineligible for retention and will not be included on the November ballot.
Application instructions for the two vacancies – courts 20 and 21 of the criminal division – can be found here. Applications must be submitted through the Indiana Courts Portal by noon Friday, Aug. 7.
According to Indiana law, applicants are eligible for the position if they are a resident of Marion County at both the time of applying and throughout their term of office, and they are an attorney admitted to the Indiana bar for at least five years.
Under state law, no more than 52% of Marion Superior Court judges can be from the same political party. According to the committee’s announcement, the current vacancies are one Democratic and one Republican.
According to the committee, local court rules permit any sitting Marion County Superior Court judge to transfer courts, but that will leave a vacancy in another court.
The committee will publicly interview applicants for the vacancies in September. A private executive session will follow, during which the committee will consider the applicants.
According to the court, the committee will then publicly vote to select five “of the most qualified candidates” for each open position to send to Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, who has the final appointing power for new judges in Marion County.
This year’s House Enrolled Act 1033 made several changes to how Marion County judges pursue retention.
In the past, the committee made recommendations to voters regarding a judge’s retention. No matter the committee’s recommendation — either for or against retention — the judge’s name would appear on the ballot.
But the new law has given the committee the power to “make determinations concerning the suitability of a judge to continue to hold judicial office.” If the committee considers a sitting judge “not suitable” for retention, his or her name will no longer appear on the ballot for voter consideration.
The new law also changes the committee’s makeup.
In the past, the judicial selection committee in Marion County included members appointed by the Indianapolis Bar Association, the Marion County Bar Association, the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association and the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana. In the future, those organizations will no longer appoint members to the committee. Instead, the governor and chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court will each be able to appoint two attorneys of their choosing to the committee.
According to the Indiana Judicial Branch’s website, the Marion County Bar Association and Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana’s appointments are still on the committee – Katherine Jackson-Lindsay of Jackson Legal Services and Misha Rabinowitch of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP – with their terms ending in 2028.
The chief justice recently appointed criminal defense attorney James Bell of Hoover Hull Turner LLP to the committee, according to the Indiana Judicial Branch; his term began July 1 and is set to end in 2030.
And Braun recently appointed the former deputy corporation counsel for the city of Indianapolis, Ted Nolting of Kroger, Gardis & Regas LLP, to the committee; his term also began on July 1.
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