Indiana judicial elections, 2014

Primary loser gets a second-chance at election

A strange switch occurred in the race for the Warrick County Circuit Court. Todd Corne, the winner of the Republican primary, withdrew from the race. He was replaced by his former primary opponent, Greg A. Granger, effectively reversing the result of the primary.

Granger was appointed by Warrick County Republican Chairman Mike Griffen to advance to the general election. Corne cited residency issues for his decision to withdraw. His wife, Kelly Corne, is a prosecutor in the neighboring Spencer County. If Corne were to move out of Warrick County, he would no longer be eligible to serve as judge. Considering the possibility of a family move, Corne decided to withdraw from the race.^[8]

Commenting on the primary and on Granger's qualifications, Chairman Griffen stated, "Greg ran a very good race, a very gentlemanly race. It was a very slim margin that Todd beat him by... [Granger is] very well qualified."^[9] Corne defeated Granger with a narrow margin of about 300 votes in the close primary.^[8]

Granger earned his J.D. from Indiana University in 1983, and has worked as a private practice trial attorney for more than 30 years. He is a former partner at Bowers Harrison LLP in Evansville, Indiana. He also previously served as an attorney for the Warrick County Council.

Incumbent challenged in Indiana Small Claims court

An Indiana judge faced a challenge in November's election. Incumbent Danny Vaughn competed against Gerald B. Coleman for his Wayne County Township position on the Indiana Small Claims Courts.

Vaughn ran on the Republican ticket and won the 2010 election for the position on the court by defeating Maxine E. King in the general election. He earned both his undergraduate and J.D. degrees from Indiana University and, in addition to his position as judge, he also works as an attorney with a formidable 32 years of experience in small claims matters.^[6]

Indiana primary election analysis

The state’s primary election took place May 6. Now that the votes have been counted, we can look at the judicial primary races with a larger lens.

There were a total of 119 seats up for election, including 80 superior court seats and 39 circuit court seats. The table below includes stats about incumbent participation in the superior and circuit court primaries. (Races for seats on the Marion County Superior Court and the small claims courts are not included.)

Election trends for the superior and the circuit courts were very similar. In contests for seats on courts at both levels, unopposed incumbents ran in more than half those races. A total of four incumbents were defeated in the primary. These occurred in races for seats on the LaGrange County Superior Court, Tippecanoe County Superior Court and the Clark County Circuit Court.

Incumbent participation and outcomes in the primary:

Regarding the gender of the candidates who ran for election to the superior and circuit courts, approximately 78 percent were male and 22 percent were female. Of the male candidates, 75 percent won their races, while 25 percent lost. Among the female candidates competing for seats in the primary, 88 percent were successful in their races, while 12 percent were defeated.

Primary results in Indiana: Upheavals in Clark County

Primary results for Indiana's judicial races included upsets in two contests for seats on the Clark County Circuit Court. Incumbents Jerry Jacobi and Daniel Moore were defeated by newcomers Laura A. Harbison and Andrew Adams. Jacobi, who received 43.6 percent of the vote, to Harbison's 56.4 percent, was one of a number of defendants in a federal civil rights lawsuit. Plantiffs in the case claimed their rights were violated when they were held in jail too long before being placed in the county's drug court program.^[15] According to The Courier-Journal, Harbison remarked after learning of her victory that it's not possible to know whether the issues with the drug court program were a deciding factor in the primary election.^[16]

In a race for the seat on the Hendricks County Circuit Court, Dan Zielinski came out on top in a five-way Republican primary contest. His opponents were Suzanne X. Conger, Annie Fierek, Mark O'Hara and Eric M. Oliver.

Republican Kelsey B. Hanlon also scored a decisive primary victory over Terry L. English in a contest for the seat on the Owen County Circuit Court, garnering 65.8 percent of the votes to English's 34.3 percent.

In the race to serve as judge of the Tippecanoe County Circuit Court, Les A. Meade defeated Earl McCoy in the Republican primary 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent.

Two Democrats challenge Marion County Superior Court election process

In Indiana's May 6 primary, two Democratic candidates ran against their party's slated candidates and challenging the method used to elect judges to the Marion County Superior Court. Greg Bowes and David R. Hennessy filed a suit in the Marion County Circuit Court, seeking to force the Marion County Board of Voter Registration to give them access to the same public voter records that slated candidates are able to access. The information included telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and home addresses for voters. Bowes and Hennessy sought this data to use it in a last-minute effort to reach out to voters.^[6]

Judges are elected to the Marion County Superior Court under a unique state law enacted in 2006 with the goal of reducing the influence of political parties in the judicial selection process.^[5] Under this system, judicial candidates seeking party nomination pay a fee to their party to cover campaign costs. The Indy Star reported that in the 2014 judicial election, Democrats seeking party endorsement paid $14,000 to their party, and Republican candidates paid at least $12,000.^[6] Each party then nominates candidates for half of the open judicial seats in the primary. This judicial selection law ensures that Democrats and Republicans never run against each other in the general election and both parties are represented equally on the bench.^[6]

Joel Miller, chairman for the Marion County Democratic Party, argued in favor of the process because it presents voters with thoroughly vetted candidates who are well-qualified to be judges. Hennessy stated that, while Miller's statement is true, the party doesn't consider candidates unless they pay the fee.^[6] Bowes hoped that by not participating in the party selection process he would demonstrate to voters his independence and impartiality. The Republican primary was much less contested during this election since all the Republican candidates except for one, PJ Dietrick, were incumbents.^[6]

Bowes and Hennessy were not the only critics of Marion County's judicial selection process. In 2013, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on the behalf of Common Cause Indiana against Governor Mike Pence, Secretary of State Connie Lawson and the Indiana Election Commission. The suit challenged the constitutionality of limiting the number of seats a party can compete for during an election. The suit also argued that because voters are required to declare a party affiliation to participate in the primary election, the system left independent voters with no say in the county's judicial elections. Voters who do vote in the primary are only able to vote for half of the judicial positions on the ballot during an election.^[6]

Candidate roundup: Drug court big issue in Indiana's Clark County Circuit Court race

In August 2013, Destiny Hoffman was ordered to spend 48 hours in jail. She was then to be evaluated and recommended for treatment as part of the county's drug court treatment program. After slipping through the administrative cracks in the county's system, she ended up spending five months in jail. When the mistake was discovered, Hoffman was released and all charges were dropped.^[18] The Indiana Supreme Court suspended the Clark County Drug Court program in February, but reinstated it conditionally in March to allow current participants to finish treatment and have their charges dropped.

As of April 2014, Hoffman and 15 other drug court participants were listed as plaintiffs in a federal civil rights lawsuit against Clark County. Most of the plaintiffs stated they were held in jail longer than they should have been. There was a long list of defendants in the case, including Judge Jerry Jacobi, who ran for re-election in 2014. The former director of the drug court program was also a defendant, along with the bailiff, sheriff, chief probation office and others.^[19]

Jerry Jacobi faced attorney Laura A. Harbison in the Democratic primary on May 6, 2014. Harbison, a political newcomer, said she decided to run for this position before the drug court scandal came out and hit the media. Harbison also stated that bringing the drug court back into full operation would be one of her main goals, if she won, along with making sure to correct any misconduct that had allegedly occurred.

Although the News and Tribune did not endorse candidates, their editorial board did publish an opinion piece about the matter on April 30, 2014. The article was very critical of Jacobi, saying he had the responsibility to ensure that the drug court was operating appropriately.^[22]

Jacobi had worked as a prosecutor and judge in Clark County for 20 years and mentioned in his candidate questionnaire that he hoped voters would look to his experience. In his answers to the questionnaire, he also pointed out that Indiana's criminal code would be changing dramatically in July. "The implementation and understanding of the effects of this change will be of paramount importance," he wrote.^[23]

Candidate roundup: Bartholomew County Superior Court

Indiana's primary took place on May 6. In Bartholomew County it was a three-way race in the Republican primary between incumbent Kathleen Tighe Coriden and challengers Gregory E. Long and Jeffrey L. Logston.

Judge Coriden, who previously ran for election as a Democrat, ran in the Republican primary in 2014.^[24] She previously served on the Bartholomew County Superior Court from January 1, 2000, until December 31, 2002, and returned to the court in 2009.^[24] Prior to her judicial appointment, Coriden served as the staff attorney and executive director of legal services for the counties of Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings. Her résumé also included 22 years of experience as a part-time deputy prosecutor and work in a law practice with her son and husband.^[24] You can find out more about Coriden through her campaign website.

Gregory E. Long is a native of Bartholomew County.^[25] He had over 16 years of experience as an attorney, and has served for over 13 years as a deputy prosecutor for Bartholomew County. He served as president of the board for Dancer's Studio, Inc., vice president of the board for Volunteers in Medicine, and vice president of the Bartholomew County Bar Association.^[25] His campaign website can be found online as well, at www.greglongforjudge.com.

Party politics vs. judicial ethics in Indiana

Marion County uses a slating system to select judges for the ballot. The two major political parties, Republican and Democratic, each select half of the candidates who will run for the available seats on the court. Each party holds a slating convention, and votes secretly, to determine which candidates will be selected to fill their party's seats.

Voters used to have more of a voice in the process. Delegates who attended the slating convention were elected. The delegates would vote on which candidates to include on a party's ballot during the general election. Recently, fewer people have chosen to run and serve as delegates for their precinct. In precincts not represented by a delegate, the county chairman for the party has the authority to choose a delegate.^[27]

According to an Indianapolis Star article, descriptions on the financial disclosure forms of several judicial candidates had caused concerns that the candidates could be in violation of the state's ethics laws for judges and judicial candidates.^[28] Democratic and Republican Party groups in Marion County offered judicial candidates the opportunity to be endorsed by their political party. Most candidates were eager to gain a spot on their party's slate since it was seen as a sure way to win a seat on the court. However, according to the article, candidates had to pay between $12,000 and $14,000 to be placed on their party's slate. Under Indiana's Code of Judicial Conduct, candidates may make voluntary contributions to political organizations. However, rules under Canon 4 of the code prohibit candidates from paying slate fees.^[29]

Marion County election officials noted that involving political parties in the election process actually lowered the costs for judicial candidates. In other counties where judges are selected through a more traditional election process, some candidates spent well over $100,000 while campaigning during the 2012 elections. The system in Marion County was created in 2006 as a way to reduce the influence of politics in elections. However, based on the way the system worked in 2014, it appeared that the Republican and Democratic parties exercised a significant amount of control over the process of selecting judges in the county.^[28]

The Star's article noted several candidates referenced payments they made to political parties as "fees", "payments", "slating fees" or "expenses" -- not donations. Kathryn Dolan, a supreme court spokeswoman, told the Star what candidates choose to call the payments may not be a consideration if any investigations regarding the practice are conducted by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications. She said several aspects of the payments are evaluated by the commission, such as whether they were given before a slating convention, whether the political party said they were expected and whether the amounts from all candidates of a political party were the same.^[28]

Becoming a judge in the county under the current system isn't an easy task. Candidates usually begin the work of gaining their party's endorsement long before the election by taking part in party activities and getting to know their party's key players. Candidates must also complete an extensive questionnaire about their background and qualifications. Officials for both parties like the current system and claimed it required candidates to be in touch with the people who would be affected by the decisions the candidates would make in court. In systems where judges are nominated by a commission or a state's governor, only a few people actually have a say in who will be chosen as a judge. Average citizens generally don't have much input into the process. However, many have expressed concerns that Marion county's system placed too much of an emphasis on the partisan affiliation of judges. Voters who aren't members of the Republican or Democratic Party also end up without any choice about who serves as a judge in the county.

A quick lesson on Indiana's trial court system

The majority of 2014's 211 judicial candidates in Indiana ran at the trial court level. The structure of trial courts in Indiana can be confusing, however, since due to accidents of legislative history and local custom they have different names.^[30] To prepare for the Indiana primary on May 6th, let's take a closer look at how trial courts are set up in the state.

Trial courts are the first level of court in which cases appear in Indiana. They are courts of general jurisdiction, which means they are able to hear any civil or criminal case.^[31] Indiana has three types of trial courts: circuit courts, superior courts and city/town courts. Circuit courts are mentioned in the 1851 Indiana Constitution, which granted the General Assembly the power to create them. Out of Indiana's 92 counties, 90 have their own circuit court.^[31] The counties of Ohio and Dearborn are combined to form a single circuit.

Superior courts were created by the Indiana General Assembly to meet local needs for more trial courts. Nearly all counties in Indiana have superior courts in addition to their circuit court.^[31] Superior courts perform very similar functions to the circuit courts. City and town courts in Indiana are created by local ordinance. There are 47 city courts and 28 town courts in Indiana currently.^[31] These courts generally handle minor offences such as violations of city ordinances, misdemeanors and also traffic matters. In the case of an appeal at the town or city court level, the case is taken to the corresponding county circuit court to be heard.^[31]

The scoop on Indiana

The filing deadline for candidates in the Indiana 2014 elections passed on February 7. A total of 211 candidates for judicial positions were registered to compete in the primary election on May 6.

In Indiana, circuit court elections are generally partisan with the exception of Vanderburgh County, where candidates run in nonpartisan elections. Partisan elections are also the norm in the superior courts, with the exception of Lake and St. Joseph counties, where judges are appointed by the Governor and must stand for retention after two years of service and at the end of subsequent terms. Judges on the Indiana Court of Appeals are required to face a retention election at the end of their 10-year terms.