Indiana Court Times

Reclaiming Revenue: How Odyssey helps counties collect outstanding fines and court costs

Each year, millions of dollars in fines and courts costs charged to defendants in Indiana’s courts go unpaid, often leaving courts and clerks with little recourse for collecting those debts. Some people simply forget that they got that speeding ticket; others cannot come up with the money to pay that fine on time; and [...]

A Toolkit for Helping Children

“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer The same can be said of our courts, particularly those that deal with children in abuse or neglect cases. Juvenile courts handling termination of parental rights (TPR) and Children in Need of Services (CHINS) cases are faced daily with the dilemma [...]

Indiana’s Parenting Time Guidelines Revised

In the first comprehensive revision since their adoption, the Indiana Supreme Court recently amended Indiana’s Parenting Time Guidelines (Guidelines). The Guidelines, which were first effective March 31, 2001, were revised in 2008 concerning parental relocation. The new Guidelines became effective March 1, 2013. Preparation of Parenting Time Guideline revisions The Guidelines are a product of the [...]

Public opinion requested on possible court rule changes

The Indiana Supreme Court is interested in obtaining comments from judges, attorneys and the general public as it considers changes to the following Rules of Court: Waiver of Counsel by Juveniles: new rule dealing with procedure before a child can say he does not want an attorney Electronic Transcripts: allow certain electronic transcripts to be filed on appeal Electronically [...]

Leadership Development Academy

OnTuesday, February 19, 2013, members of the Indiana State Bar Association (ISBA) Leadership Development Academy (LDA) joined several members of the Indiana Supreme Court over lunch at the State House in Indianapolis. The Leadership Development Academy is a statewide leadership program established by the ISBA to help develop and empower young lawyers to become leaders in [...]

Clinton County Court Staff Visit State House

In 2012 more than 1.5 million cases were filed in Indiana courts. All of those cases, one way or another, passed through the hands of court staff in one of Indiana’s 92 county court systems. Very few find their way to the appellate courts in Indianapolis, but just what does happen to them [...]

Media Orientation for St. Joseph County Press

When St. Joseph Circuit Court Judge Michael Gotsch recently welcomed members of the press into his courtroom, he said: “Come sit in the jury box, take the best seats in the room.” Judge Gotsch and Court Administrator Lisa Plencner organized an orientation for the press at the request of the local Law & Media [...]

Fast Facts about Court Interpreters

Nearly ten percent of Indiana’s 6.5 million residents speak a language other than English. Many judges indicate that they have seen an increase in the number of individuals in their courts that are of limited English proficiency (LEP). Languages such as Spanish, Mandarin, Burmese, Laotian, Cambodian, Polish, Turkish, and Gujarati, are heard in our courts [...]

Judicial District Plans

The District Plans are in! All twenty-six administrative districts submitted their plans to the Indiana Judicial Center and State Court Administration, and the Judicial Conference Board accepted the plans during the March board meeting. In Administrative Rule 3, the Supreme Court divided the State into twenty-six administrative districts and directed the Indiana Judicial Conference Board [...]

Punishing the Profane

Using Criminal Contempt Powers in an Ethical Manner Adefendant spews forth a string of curses during his initial hearing. A cell phone goes off in a busy courtroom, but no one will take responsibility for the disruption. When submitting a check to pay her fine, a litigant writes an expletive (expressing how she feels [...]