Attorneys say commercial courts offer predictability
Since its establishment, the commercial courts have seen steady growth.
Problem-Solving Courts
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Indiana’s problem-solving courts look for alternative ways to fund efforts
Courts are getting creative, seeking the help of nonprofits and other non-governmental funding to help provide services to offenders.
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Web Exclusive: Meet the judges: Montgomery Superior Judge Daniel Petrie
Montgomery Superior Judge Daniel Petrie is the most recent trial court judge to be featured in Indiana Lawyer’s Spotlight series, which focuses on judicial officers in more rural areas of the state.
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A different way to help families: Family recovery courts gaining traction across state
For many across the state, being given a chance to connect with people in similar situations and to work with a supportive team is life changing. It certainly was for Breanna Shope. Shope had that experience when she participated in family recovery court.
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Housing court seeks to find alternatives to eviction
Every Wednesday and Thursday, the docket is filled with landlord-tenant cases. But since October 2021, the Lawrence Township Small Claims Court has been implementing a housing court model that provides additional services to try to prevent or lessen the impact of the loss of a place to live.
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Articles
Nonprofit established to support Boone County’s problem-solving courts
The Boone County Problem Solving Court Foundation will support the court’s mission of enhanced recovery and reduced recidivism by providing financial support to participants in the court’s drug and family recovery courts.
Letter to the editor: Problem-solving courts are worth the investment
Problem-solving courts are not soft on crime—they are smart on justice. They are about accountability AND opportunity.
Dustin Houchin: Reconsider the enthusiasm for problem-solving courts
Despite the enthusiasm for problem-solving courts, there is little solid evidence that they work any better than traditional courts.
Spitzer: It’s OK to go ahead and come out from behind the bench
The recommendation for judges to refrain from advocacy in legislative bodies is an easily constructed straw man. However, like many things, the devil is in the details.
IN House committee approves bill to create new CHINS problem-solving court
The Indiana House Judiciary Committee has endorsed a bill that would establish a safe baby court as a type of problem-solving court.
Return on investment: 2024 State of the Judiciary focuses on outcomes of legislative funding
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush recognized some of the state’s judges and their community efforts in trying to assist people with behavioral and mental health needs, as well as efforts by judicial officers to help the state’s veterans and families.
New family domestic violence court launched in Allen County
The Allen Superior Court has launched a new family domestic violence problem-solving court. The Family Domestic Violence Court is meant to provide support, recovery and services to survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence and their families.
CJ Rush: ‘Rare and exceptional’ case ‘highlights the disparity’ in sentencing alternatives
Indiana Supreme Court justices have split in denying transfer to a drug case, with the chief justice writing in dissent that the defendant’s maximum sentence should be reduced because he didn’t have access to problem-solving courts.
Decade of service: Indiana marks 10 years of veterans courts
A decade after the first veterans court opened in Floyd County, there are now 28 veterans courts statewide, according to the Indiana Supreme Court. On May 10, at the Ogle Hall auditorium on Ivy Tech Community College’s Sellersburg campus, the first veterans court celebrated its 10th anniversary along with a ceremony honoring its newest cohort of graduates.
Letter to the editor: Marion Co. should reconsider closing family recovery court
Indianapolis attorney Andrea K. Marsh writes that she doesn’t understand why Marion Superior Court is terminating the Marion County Family Recovery Court 18 months before the grant funding for it would end.
Confusion, dismay over decision to close Family Recovery Court
The Marion Superior Court Executive Committee has announced the family recovery court, which started in 2010, will be closing at the end of the month. Dwindling participation along with concerns about how the program was being operated have been cited as among the reasons for the decision to stop. But stakeholders and graduates say the closure will have a devastating impact, rippling beyond the participants to their children and extended family members.
‘A tenacious spirit’: Chief Justice Rush commends perseverance of judiciary in unprecedented times
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush on Jan. 12 presented her eighth State of the Judiciary address to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, state lawmakers and fellow judges, providing an update on the condition of Indiana’s courts. She returned to the Indiana House of Representatives chamber to address the General Assembly following a virtual address in 2021.
Allen County OWI court first in Indiana to be certified
Allen Circuit Court’s Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Court has become the first of its kind in the state to receive full certification.
Worse before better: Addiction experts express concern, anticipation as overdose deaths skyrocket
Isolation, economic anxiety and fear of the coronavirus were dangerous fruits of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for individuals struggling with a substance use disorder, experts say. Bundled together, those factors made for a devastating year of increased drug overdose deaths that reached an all-time nationwide high.
Judicial Conference seeking comment on proposed rule amendments
The Indiana Judicial Conference is seeking feedback on proposed changes to rules governing specialty courts.
Creating new options for future recovery: Allen County debuts OWI Court
As problem-solving courts continue to expand across Indiana, Allen County is introducing a new program into the state’s suite of specialty courts. Launched in August, the Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Court in northeastern Indiana is the first of its kind in the state.
Web Exclusive: Incarcerated vets pay it forward with challenge coins
A group of incarcerated veterans dedicated to encouraging their fellow servicemen participating in a veteran’s treatment court program have, for the past several years, made an impact by taking up their pencils and paintbrushes.
Called to serve their neighbors, at home and abroad
The law is a service profession, one lawyers often enter into with big dreams of changing the world. For some lawyers, though, the work of changing the world begins not in law school, but in the military.
Vincennes attorney to succeed judge killed in plane crash
Attorney Brian M. Johnson was appointed the new judge of Knox Superior Court on Monday by Gov. Eric Holcomb, just days after the Knox County Republican Party selected him to be the party’s unopposed candidate on the November ballot.