Indiana Court of Appeals

Indiana Court of Appeals
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

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.^[6][7] 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

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).^[6]

Additionally, a judge must reside in the same appellate district as the outgoing judge.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[6][7] 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.^[8]

Elections

2024

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

The terms of two Indiana intermediate appellate court judges expired on December 31, 2024. The two seats were up for retention election on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline was July 15, 2024.

Candidates and results

1st District

Foley's seat

4th District

Pyle's seat

2022

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

Candidates and results

First District

Third District

Fifth District

2020

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

Candidates and results

First District (Bailey's seat)

General election candidates

• Mark Bailey  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Second District (Bradford's seat)

General election candidates

• Cale Bradford  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Third District (Tavitas' seat)

General election candidates

• Elizabeth Tavitas  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Fourth District (May's seat)

General election candidates

• Melissa May  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Fifth District (Brown's seat)

General election candidates

• Elaine Brown  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Fifth District (Robb's seat)

General election candidates

• Margret Robb  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

2018

See also: Indiana intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Candidates and results

Second District

General election candidates

• Robert R. Altice Jr.  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

2016

Judges who faced retention

Election results

Edward Najam was retained in the Indiana Court of Appeals, First District election with 70.21% of the vote.

Indiana Court of Appeals, First District, 2016
Name	Yes votes
Edward Najam	70.21%
Source: Indiana Secretary of State Official Results

James Kirsch was retained in the Indiana Court of Appeals, Second District election with 74.56% of the vote.

Indiana Court of Appeals, Second District, 2016
Name	Yes votes
James Kirsch	74.56%
Source: Indiana Secretary of State Official Results

Terry Crone was retained in the Indiana Court of Appeals, Third District election with 72.00% of the vote.

Indiana Court of Appeals, Third District, 2016
Name	Yes votes
Terry Crone	72.00%
Source: Indiana Secretary of State Official Results

Patricia A. Riley was retained in the Indiana Court of Appeals, Fourth District election with 75.31% of the vote.

Indiana Court of Appeals, Fourth District, 2016
Name	Yes votes
Patricia A. Riley	75.31%
Source: Indiana Secretary of State Official Results

2014

Retention

Judge	Election Vote
Pyle IIIRudolph Pyle III	67.1% A

See also: Indiana judicial elections, 2014

2012

Judge	Incumbency	Retention vote	Retention Vote %
BakerJohn Baker (Indiana)   A	Yes	Yes	72%A
BarnesMichael Barnes   A	Yes	Yes	73.3%A
VaidikNancy Vaidik   A	Yes	Yes	73.7%A
MathiasPaul Mathias   A	Yes	Yes	73.8%A

See also: Indiana judicial elections, 2012

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:

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:

• By a recommendation of the Commission on Judicial Qualifications to the Indiana Supreme Court, which may then suspend, retire, discipline, or remove a judge.
• By an impeachment of the judge by a vote of the Indiana House of Representatives and a conviction by the members of the Indiana State Senate.
• By a joint resolution (a vote of two-thirds of the members) of both the Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana State Senate.^[13]

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.^[14]

State profile

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.^[15]

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

• Elections in Indiana
• United States congressional delegations from Indiana
• Public policy in Indiana
• Endorsers in Indiana
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• More...

See also

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

External links

• Indiana Court of Appeals
• Judges of the Indiana Court of Appeals
• Indiana Court of Appeals Districts
• Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications

Footnotes

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