Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission

The commission is responsible for creating a list of three candidates to fill vacant positions on the state judiciary.

The commission follows a set of guidelines in the state constitution to determine eligibility for the positions, and to ensure that they only nominate the best qualified candidates that are available.

The Commission was established in 1970 by a constitutional amendment to replace the previous system of electing judges and justices.

The system came to be criticized when Governor James B. Ray refused to reappoint two members of the Supreme Court for political reasons.

[3] A similar situation occurred during the term of Governor James Whitcomb when he also refused to reappoint two members because he thought they were too slow to resolve cases.