INDIANAPOLIS – An Indiana lawmaker is pushing legislation to establish a new court in Kosciusko County.
State Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, whose district includes seven townships in Kosciusko County, introduced a bill that would add a fifth court to the county.
Senate Bill 58 calls for the creation of Kosciusko County Superior Court IV. The bill has been assigned to the judiciary committee. No hearing date on the bill has been set as of yet.
The county currently has a single circuit court and three superior courts.
In 2016, the four courts processed just under 11,000 cases, according to numbers provided by the Kosciusko County Clerk’s office.
According to a 2015 report by the Indiana Office of Judicial Administration, Kosciusko County judges have the eighth highest case load per judge in the state.
“There is a real need for this,” Head said.
The state would cover the annual cost of the judge’s salary and benefits, which is estimated to be about $202,314.
The county would be responsible for other costs involved in creating a new court. Those would include about $122,000 annually in salary and benefits for an additional court reporter and court administrator.
The county also would have a one-time cost of $10,000 for office equipment and furniture, according to the fiscal assessment on the bill.
One thing the county would not need is a new courtroom. The county already has a spare courtroom that is used for special proceedings. The spare courtroom, along with other offices, were built when the Kosciusko County Justice Building was remodeled and expanded.
Head said he is operating under the assumption the county would use the extra room for the new court.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton said the new court would hear any and all types of cases and believes it would help cases reach a conclusion faster.
“Kosciusko County Courts have been overloaded with cases for several years,” he said.
If the bill is approved and the court is ready for use before the 2018 election, the first judge would be appointed by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Afterward, the judge would be elected by county voters, Hampton said.
