Rush highlights busy year for state’s courts in State of the Judiciary
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INDIANAPOLIS - The state’s courts saw another busy year in 2024, with new technology used more and more to expedite cases and boost access to justice for Hoosiers.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush highlighted the courts’ busy dockets and how these technological tools helped to provide that increased access in her 11th State of the Judiciary address.
Rush spoke Wednesday at the Indiana House of Representatives’ chamber.
She reminded legislators of last year’s Night Court session, where lawmakers were invited to watch an oral argument held before the Indiana Supreme Court.
Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray served as the high court’s bailiffs in that case.
The oral argument the lawmakers witnessed was just a small part of the work done by the Indiana Supreme Court, Rush said.
Rush said that the court reviews approximately 800 cases a year.
“Today, I want to pull back the curtain a bit and demystify the judiciary’s role in the 1.1 million new cases filed in our courts last year,” Rush said.
She said there were more cases filed in Indiana’s trial courts last year than in all of the country’s federal courts.
“Our judges hear cases touching on every aspect of Hoosier life—from felonies to foreclosures, evictions to expungements, and delinquencies to divorces,” Rush said. “Our work is not done in isolation, but in partnership with you, our legislative colleagues, the executive branch, legal professionals, and the people we serve.”
Protecting children
In her speech Wednesday, Rush pointed out that the court updated the state’s child support guidelines in 2024, making those the most significant changes since the guidelines were established in 1987.
She added that court-ordered child support paid in 2024 resulted in more than $770 million dollars in payments for children.
The state’s Court Appointed Special Advocate or CASA program, Rush said, provides another layer of protection for Hoosier children.
“Just last year, 3,000 volunteers devoted 300,000 hours to nearly 20,000 children,” Rush said. “I would like to express my deep gratitude to our CASA volunteers and to all of you for supporting this essential child-safety program.”
Rush said the legal system struggles every day to ensure safe homes for neglected and abandoned children.
She noted that, last year, the Hoosier state saw 4,600 adoptions.
The state’s courts are tasked with not only protecting children, but also adults.
Rush said Adult Protective Services received more than 21,000 reports of elder abuse in 2024. And the courts receive about 7,000 new guardianship cases each year.
Similar to the CASA program, the state’s Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults (VASIA) program provides volunteer advocates for more than 800 elderly and incapacitated adults.
During her address, Rush thanked volunteer Linda Krueger.
Krueger started volunteering after she helped her own mother, who was moved to a nursing home due to dementia.
She has been a court volunteer for nine endangered adults and was recognized as last year’s Volunteer Guardian of the Year.
“Her work, and that of more than 260 other court volunteers, embodies the highest ideals of compassion and justice,” Rush said.
Public safety
More than 250,000 new criminal cases were filed in Indiana last year.
“That means every day we count on our judges to make firm, fair sentencing decisions to protect public safety while honoring the constitutional mandate of reform,” Rush said.
She said one of the ways judges are meeting their pledges to upholding the constitutional mandate is through the state’s problem-solving courts.
Rush pointed to a Temple University study that was published last year which found 93% of Indiana’s treatment court graduates were not rearrested.
She gave the example of the veterans court in Tippecanoe County, which is led by Judges Sean Persin and Dan Moore. Since 2017, 80% of residents that are admitted to the court have graduated from the county’s program.
At graduation, they are physically wrapped in a quilt of valor which is handmade by community members to symbolically show their restored honor.
A recent graduate of the program, “Mark,” joined Persin and Moore at the statehouse for the address. Mark received a standing ovation as he stood and revealed his quilt of valor.
The Tippecanoe County resident was recently named employee of the month at a large Lafayette manufacturing plant, has his own home, is reconnected with his family, and has been committed to his sobriety for the last 3 years.
Rush said another part of enhancing public safety is the use of technology.
Last year, the court created an application that allows law enforcement to search multiple state databases so they could quickly determine whether a person is legally permitted to have a firearm. Now, 23,000 officers have access to that application.
The court is now working to create a single integrated system that will collect and report accurate statewide jail population data, share fingerprints, streamline and connect justice system operations.
“We remain committed to working with you all to improve public safety throughout the state,” Rush said.
Access to Justice
Rush said she and many other judicial officers are asked “What’s the most important case you’ve heard?” She said the answer is the case before her right now.
“Because I guarantee you, for the people involved in that case, it’s the most important matter to them,” Rush said.
Cameras in courtrooms, live-streamed hearings, online court calendars and MyCase are just some of the examples Rush gave of what the courts are doing to enhance access to justice.
She said the court is piloting the use of artificial intelligence. Rush cited Marion County, which has used AI to reduce the time and cost of court transcripts.
“Where it used to take weeks or months to get that record, it now takes only minutes,” Rush said.
Rush added that not everything can be done by using a bot or technology.