The Power of the Pen: What happens behind the scenes Judges wield tremendous power, often literally with a stroke of their pens as they sign their names on orders and findings. When the cases involve family violence, routine decisions—whether to check the “Brady box” on a protection order, or whether to make the domestic violence determination in a misdemeanor case—can indeed carry life-or-death consequences. Why is t … [Read more...] about NICS: National Instant Background Check System
Columns
New timesaving feature in Odyssey
Court revenue information collected by a clerk using the Odyssey case management system will automatically be imported into one county-wide court revenue report for all circuit and superior courts (revenue for the city, town, and Marion County Township courts using Odyssey will still be imported into individual court revenue reports). This enhancement eliminates the need for the report preparer to run a revenue … [Read more...] about New timesaving feature in Odyssey
Honorable Gail Bardach
This is the thirty-sixth of our Court Times articles that highlight up close and personal a member of the Indiana Judiciary. Hamilton Superior Court Judge Gail Bardach is our judge featured in this issue. Judge Bardach graduated from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1972, and the IU McKinney School of Law in 1975. She served as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Marion County, then as Assistant United States Attorney … [Read more...] about Honorable Gail Bardach
Are you paying court employees a salary or not?
Two salary issues have been vexing a number of courts: 1) must court employees be paid for every hour worked when they are “salaried” and 2) may court reporters work during the regular work hours when the reporter is preparing a transcript? Both state statutes and case law frequently refer to the salaries of public employees in Indiana, from police officers and public welfare employees to firemen and city employees. … [Read more...] about Are you paying court employees a salary or not?
Judge Gull awarded for jury innovation work
For the past 10 years, Allen County Superior Court Judge Frances C. Gull has been committed to improving the jury management system in her county. In her efforts to make the jury system more convenient for jurors, Judge Gull helped establish mJuror, a system specifically designed for smart devices that allows jurors to communicate with court administrators (and vice versa) by utilizing QR codes and texting. Due to … [Read more...] about Judge Gull awarded for jury innovation work