Indiana Court of Appeals

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Indiana Court of Appeals
Intermediate Appellate Courts Seal-template.png
Court information
Judges:   15
Founded:   1891
Location:   Indianapolis, Indiana
Salary:  Associates: $214,852[1]
Judicial selection
Method:   Assisted appointment
Term:   10 years
Published opinions

The Indiana Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court of Indiana. The court was originally founded in 1891. Its current structure was created by state constitutional amendment in 1970.[2] Fifteen judges make up the court, and they hear cases in panels of three.

Jurisdiction

The court hears civil appeals from Indiana's trials courts and a number of state agencies as well as most criminal appeals.

However, exclusive jurisdiction over some cases is reserved for the Indiana Supreme Court or the Indiana Tax Court, and the court of appeals does not hear those cases. The Indiana Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over criminal appeals involving the death penalty, sentences of life without parole, or sentences of more than 50 years; statutes that have been held unconstitutional by an Indiana trial court; waiver of parental consent to abortion; mandate of funds; and disciplinary actions against state-licensed attorneys. The Indiana Tax Court has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals involving taxation.[2][3][4]

Case hearings

Cases on appeal are assigned at random to a three-judge panel. The three judges in these panels preside over cases together for a term of four months and then rotate three times per year to ensure that each member of the Indiana Court of Appeals will hear a case with every other member for four out of every 30 months.

There is no process for en banc hearing; that is, the disposition of cases by three-judge panels is final, and no case is brought before all 15 judges together.[3][5]

Judges

Judges of the Indiana Court of Appeals, July 2016
Judge Tenure Appointed By

Rudolph Pyle III

August 7, 2012 - Present

Mitch Daniels

Melissa May

April 9, 1998 - Present

Gov. Frank O'Bannon (D)

Mary DeBoer

October 15, 2024 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Mark Bailey

January 30, 1998 - Present

Gov. Frank O'Bannon (D)

Leanna Weissmann

2020 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Peter R. Foley

October 11, 2022 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Elizabeth Tavitas

July 19, 2018 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Paul Mathias

March 30, 2000 - Present

Gov. Frank O'Bannon (D)

Stephen Scheele

January 8, 2025 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Elaine Brown

May 5, 2008 - Present

Mitch Daniels

Nancy Vaidik

February 7, 2000 - Present

Gov. Frank O'Bannon (D)

Paul A. Felix

July 28, 2023 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Robert R. Altice Jr.

August 31, 2015 - Present

Mike Pence

Cale Bradford

August 1, 2007 - Present

Mitch Daniels

Dana J. Kenworthy

January 17, 2023 - Present

Eric Holcomb

Salary

See also: Indiana court salaries and budgets

In 2025, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $214,852, according to the National Center for State Courts.[6]

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Indiana

The fifteen judges on the Indiana Court of Appeals are selected through the assisted appointment method. The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission is responsible for providing the names of three nominees to the governor, who must then select a judge from that list.[7][8] The commission is made up of six voting members from the three geographic districts covered by the Indiana Court of Appeals. Members include three attorneys, elected by attorneys in their respective geographic districts, and three non-attorneys, appointed by the governor. The chief justice or his or her designee serves as an ex officio member of the commission.[8]

Judges serve at least two years following their initial appointment. They must stand for retention at the first statewide general election to remain in office. If retained, justices serve a ten-year term and must stand for retention every ten years after that point to remain in office.[9]

The court of appeals is divided into five districts, each represented by three judges. The first three districts make up the southern, middle, and northern thirds of the state, respectively. The fourth and fifth districts include all counties and consist of three judges, one from each of the first three districts.[10]

Qualifications

To serve on this court, a judge must be:

  • a U.S. citizen;
  • an Indiana resident;
  • admitted to practice law in the state for at least 10 years or have served as a trial court judge for at least five years; and
  • under the age of 75 (retirement at 75 is mandatory).[7]

Additionally, a judge must reside in the same appellate district as the outgoing judge.[10] Learn more about Indiana's appellate district system here.

Chief judge

The chief judge is selected by his or her peers on the Indiana Court of Appeals and serves a three-year term. Three judges in each district will also choose a presiding judge for the district who serves a one-year term.[11]

Vacancies

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the position is filled as it normally would be had the vacancy occurred at the end of a judge's term. The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission provides the names of three nominees to the governor, who must then select a judge from that list.[7][8] The new appointee serves at least two years following his or her initial appointment and must stand for retention at the first statewide general election to remain in office.[9]

Elections

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2030

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2028


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2026

Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District

Peter R. Foley was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District on November 5, 2024 with 71.9% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
71.9
 
604,080
No
 
28.1
 
236,339
Total Votes 840,419

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District

Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District

Rudolph Pyle III was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District on November 5, 2024 with 70.6% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
70.6
 
1,560,879
No
 
29.4
 
650,404
Total Votes 2,211,283

The results have been certified. Source

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District

Leanna Weissmann was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District on November 8, 2022 with 75.8% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
75.8
 
408,736
No
 
24.2
 
130,838
Total Votes 539,574

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District

Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District

Paul Mathias was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District on November 8, 2022 with 75.1% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
75.1
 
332,432
No
 
24.9
 
110,094
Total Votes 442,526

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District

Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District

Nancy Vaidik was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District on November 8, 2022 with 74.8% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
74.8
 
1,090,255
No
 
25.2
 
367,211
Total Votes 1,457,466

The results have been certified. Source

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District

Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District

Mark Bailey was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 1st District on November 3, 2020 with 78.3% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
78.3
 
620,378
No
 
21.7
 
171,685
Total Votes 792,063

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District

Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District

Cale Bradford was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District on November 3, 2020 with 75.0% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
75.0
 
542,749
No
 
25.0
 
180,471
Total Votes 723,220

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District

Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District

Elizabeth Tavitas was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 3rd District on November 3, 2020 with 79.1% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
79.1
 
532,148
No
 
20.9
 
140,501
Total Votes 672,649

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District

Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District

Melissa May was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 4th District on November 3, 2020 with 80.4% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
80.4
 
1,793,871
No
 
19.6
 
436,997
Total Votes 2,230,868

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District

Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District

Margret Robb was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District on November 3, 2020 with 79.9% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
79.9
 
1,782,019
No
 
20.1
 
449,295
Total Votes 2,231,314

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District

Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District

Elaine Brown was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 5th District on November 3, 2020 with 79.7% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
79.7
 
1,782,107
No
 
20.3
 
454,043
Total Votes 2,236,150

The results have been certified. Source

Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District

Robert R. Altice Jr. was retained to the Indiana Court of Appeals 2nd District on November 6, 2018 with 73.9% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
73.9
 
402,129
No
 
26.1
 
141,934
Total Votes 544,063

The results have been certified. Source
Previous election results


Ethics

The Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Indiana. It consists of four overarching canons:

“
  • Canon 1: A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
  • Canon 2: A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
  • Canon 3: A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office.
  • Canon 4: A judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.[12][13]
 ”

The full text of the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Indiana may be removed in one of three ways:

In addition, a judge may fail to be retained by voters when he or she is up for election.

History of the court

The Indiana Appellate Court, predecessor court to the Indiana Court of Appeals, was created by the Indiana General Assembly by statute in 1891. It was originally created to be a temporary appellate court to handle overflow cases from the Indiana Supreme Court. The Indiana Appellate Court was not intended to be a permanent institution; the original statute specified a term of existence of six years. But in 1897, the Indiana General Assembly voted to keep the court for another four years due to the Indiana Supreme Court's increasing caseload. The court was then made permanent in 1901. It was at this point that the court began its function as an intermediate appellate court.[2]

In 1970, the Indiana State Constitution was amended to create the current Indiana Court of Appeals. The court began hearing cases on January 1, 1972.[2]

The court was originally created with nine judges: one three-judge panel representing each of three districts. The court was later expanded to 15 judges representing five districts.[15]

State profile

Demographic data for Indiana
 IndianaU.S.
Total population:6,612,768316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):35,8263,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:84.2%73.6%
Black/African American:9.2%12.6%
Asian:1.9%5.1%
Native American:0.2%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.2%3%
Hispanic/Latino:6.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:87.8%86.7%
College graduation rate:24.1%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$49,255$53,889
Persons below poverty level:18.4%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Indiana.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Indiana

Indiana voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Indiana, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[16]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Indiana had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Indiana coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

Indiana Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals
Indiana Supreme Court
Elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Indiana
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The salary of the chief judge may be higher than an associate judge.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Indiana Judicial Branch: Court of Appeals of Indiana, "History & Origins," accessed May 25, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Indiana Judicial Branch: Court of Appeals of Indiana, "About the Court," accessed May 25, 2015
  4. ↑ Indiana Judicial Branch: Supreme Court, "About the Court: Appellate Process," accessed July 22, 2016
  5. ↑ Indiana Judicial Branch: Court of Appeals of Indiana, "About the Three-Judge Panel in the Indiana Court of Appeals," accessed May 25, 2015
  6. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "2025 Salaries and Rankings," accessed October 8, 2025
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 National Center for State Courts, "Method of Judicial Selection: Indiana," accessed Aug. 23, 2021
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 State of Indiana, "Judicial Nominating Commission Fact Sheet," accessed Aug. 23, 2021
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 State of Indiana, "Indiana's Judicial Retention System," accessed Aug. 23, 2021
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 State of Indiana, "Court of Appeals Districts," accessed Aug. 23, 2021
  11. ↑ State of Indiana, "Judges of the Court of Appeals," accessed Aug. 23, 2021
  12. ↑ Indiana.gov, "Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed May 25, 2015
  13. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  14. ↑ National Center For State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Removal of Judges," accessed May 9, 2015
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named District
  16. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

Indiana courts

Federal courts:

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana

State courts:

Indiana Supreme Court • Indiana Court of Appeals • Indiana Tax Court • Indiana Superior Courts • Indiana Circuit Courts • Indiana City Courts • Indiana County Courts • Indiana Municipal Courts • Indiana Small Claims Courts • St. Joseph County Probate Court • Indiana Town Courts

State resources:

Courts in Indiana • Indiana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Indiana


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