Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.
Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission
| Judicial nominating commissions |
|---|
 |
| Individual nominating committees |
| Select a committee in the dropdown below and click "Submit" to view information about that committee. |
| Methods of judicial selection |
| Partisan elections |
| Nonpartisan elections |
| Michigan method |
| Retention elections |
| Assisted appointment |
| Bar-controlled commission |
| Governor-controlled commission |
| Hybrid commission |
| Legislative elections |
| Gubernatorial appointment |
The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission is an independent state commission in Indiana established by the Amendment 2 in 1970 that plays a role in the state's judicial selection process. The commission has seven members: three are appointed by attorneys, three are appointed by the governor, and the other is a member of the Indiana Supreme Court.[1]
Indiana uses the assisted appointment method of judicial selection for its appellate courts. Using this method, the governor appoints state judges from a list of names submitted by the commission.
The commission is a hybrid commission, which means that there is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar association. As of October 23, 2025, 11 states used this type of commission. To learn more about controlling majorities in judicial selection commissions, click here.
Members
Last updated: April 2025
The commission has seven members. Both an attorney and a non-attorney are appointed from each of the state's three Court of Appeals districts. The non-attorneys are selected by the governor and the attorneys are selected by attorneys within those districts. Each of these six members serve staggered three-year terms. The seventh member is either the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court or another member of the supreme court designated by the chief justice.[1]
Aside from the member who is a supreme court justice, no other member of the nominating commission may hold public office or an office in a political party or organization. Members of the commission are ineligible for appointment to a judicial office during their tenure and for three years after their term ends. The members appointed from a district must reside in that district during their team on the commission.[1]
| Members of the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, April 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | District | Term-end date |
| Chair Loretta H. Rush | Indiana Supreme Court | N/A |
| Molly Kitchell | First District | December 31, 2025 |
| Steve L. Williams, Esq. | First District | December 31, 2027 |
| Jerry Torr | Second District | December 31, 2027 |
| Lee C. Christie, Esq. | Second District | December 31, 2025 |
| Nancy Stewart | Third District | December 31, 2026 |
| Daniel B. Vinovich, Esq. | Third District | December 31, 2026 |
Process
On its website, the commission lays out the following steps for filling a judicial vacancy:[1]
- The commission publicly announces the vacancy and solicits applications.
- The commission selects applicants to evaluate.
- The commission conducts background checks and publicly interviews applicants.
- The commission votes in a public session on three nominees to refer to the governor.
- The commission submits a report summarizing the three nominees' qualifications to the governor.
- The governor appoints one of the three nominees within 60 days of the report.
In the event that the governor does not make a selection within 60 days of the report, the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court makes the appointment from the list of names.[1][2]
According to state statute, the commission is required to consider the following when evaluating candidates:[1]
- legal education
- legal writings
- reputation in the practice of law
- physical ability to do the job
- financial interests for conflict-of-interest purposes
- public service activities
Duties
As of April 2025, the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission website did not list specific duties for members of the commission.
Control of judicial selection commissions
Assisted appointment is a method of judicial selection in which a nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.[3]
At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types, based on the makeup of the judicial nominating commissions. Those types are:
- Governor-controlled commission - The governor is either responsible for appointing a majority of the members of the nominating commission or may decline to appoint a candidate from a list provided by the nominating commission.
- Bar-controlled commission - Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the members of the nominating commission.
- Hybrid - There is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar Association. The membership of these commissions is determined by different rules in each state.
Twenty-three courts in 22 states used assisted appointment to select state supreme court justices as of June 2021.[4][5] Indiana used a hybrid commission. The table below shows the number of courts using each variation of assisted appointment at the state supreme court level.
| Assisted appointment methods in state supreme courts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Courts (of 23) | ||
| Governor-controlled majority | 10 | ||
| Bar-controlled majority | 1 | ||
| Hybrid | 12 | ||
The map below highlights the states that use each of the three types of assisted appointment.
About judicial selection
Each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they select judges at the state and local level. These methods of selection are:
Election
- Partisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
- Nonpartisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot without a label designating party affiliation.
- Michigan method: State supreme court justices are selected through nonpartisan elections preceded by either partisan primaries or conventions.
- Retention election: A periodic process whereby voters are asked whether an incumbent judge should remain in office for another term. Judges are not selected for initial terms in office using this election method.
Assisted appointment
- Assisted appointment, also known as merit selection or the Missouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.[3] At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types:
- Bar-controlled commission: Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees that they must choose from.
- Governor-controlled commission: The governor is responsible for appointing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees they must choose from.
- Hybrid commission: The judicial nominating commission has no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. These commissions determine membership in a variety of ways, but no institution or organization has a clear majority control.
Direct appointment
- Court appointment: Judges are selected by judges in the state judiciary.
- Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
- Legislative election: Judges are selected by the state legislature.
- Municipal government selection: Judges are selected by the governing body of their municipality.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Indiana Judicial Branch, "Judicial Nominating Commission Fact Sheet," accessed April 11, 2025
- ↑ As of October 2021, this provision had never been invoked.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," June 2008 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ambaroverview" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ As of June 2021, Oklahoma had two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
- ↑ North Dakota uses this method only for vacancies.
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
