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Indiana voters said “yes” to an amendment to the state constitution that will expand the area in which city and town judges can live.
Supporters of the amendment hope the change will help smaller communities fill local judgeships.
House Enrolled Act 1019, signed into law by Gov. Mike Braun in February, asked voters to decide whether city and town judges can reside nearby but outside the municipal boundaries of the communities they serve.
Indiana Public Question 2 read as: “Shall the Constitution of the State of Indiana be amended to permit the judge of a city or town court to reside in: (1) the county in which the court is located; or (2) the bordering county closest to the city or town in which the court is located? (This question concerns Article 6, Section 6 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana.)”
The vote is the final step in a multiyear process for amending the Indiana Constitution and solving a problem that has plagued the bench in rural areas, as judges retire and few attorneys are available to take their place.
Article 6, Section 6 of the Indiana Constitution states that a county, city or town judge must live and have their offices within a jurisdiction’s legal boundaries. The provision was not part of the state’s original constitution that was established in 1816. It was added to a revision ratified in 1851.
While the amendment was passed at a time when Justice of the Peace courts were part of the state’s judicial infrastructure, the language doesn’t apply to modern times, Rep. Michael Aylesworth, R-Hebron, who authored the proposal, told The Indiana Lawyer in July.
Aylesworth has been trying to change the article’s language since 2021.
“Our smaller, more rural communities are struggling to find and retain good city or town court judges,” Aylesworth said in a Wednesday morning email, adding that he was excited to see the impact the amendment will have on those communities. “We can now better ensure our justice system is operating effectively in all areas of the state.”
With the vote in favor of the change, Article 6, Section 6 will now read as follows:
Section 6. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), all county, township, and town officers, shall reside within their respective counties, townships, and towns; and shall keep their respective offices at such places therein, and perform such duties, as may be directed by law.
(b) The judge of a city or town court shall reside in:
(1) the county in which the city or town court is located; or
(2) the bordering Indiana county that is the closest Indiana county to the city or town in which the city or town court is located, calculated by measuring the shortest distance from the city or town limits to the county line.
Aylesworth started the multistep process to change the constitution by getting a resolution through the state legislature in 2023 after failing two years before.
A proposed constitutional amendment must be adopted by two consecutive, separately elected Legislatures and then go before voters to be finalized. The Legislature approved the resolution again in 2025, making it eligible for the 2026 ballot.
Voters on Tuesday also passed another constitutional amendment that will give judges more leeway in denying bail to some defendants.
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