James M. Redwine

Posey Circuit Court

Who Does What?

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On Wednesday, December 26, 2018 at 12:30 p.m. in our historic courtroom in the Posey Circuit Court in Mt. Vernon, Indiana you have the opportunity to see the people whom you have chosen to help run your life take an oath to perform their public trust. On November 6, 2018 you voted for a new Circuit Court Judge, Craig Goedde, another term for Prosecuting Attorney, Travis Clowers, and a new Sheriff in town, Tom Latham, to oversee your legal and law enforcement system.

They will be working with new County Clerk Kay Kilgore, Auditor Sara Beth Meighen, Assessor Nancy Hoehn, Coroner Bill Denning, County Commissioner Randy Thornburg, and four elected or re-elected members of our seven-member County Council, Tom Schneider, Dave Pearce, Stefani Miller and Marilyn Brenton.

Further, each of our ten county townships: Harmony; Black; Point; Marrs; Lynn; Center; Robb; Robinson; Bethel; and, Smith has an elected Trustee and a three-member Advisory Board.

Each of the major office holders has the duty and authority to appoint staff such as Court Reporters, Probation Officers, Deputy Prosecutors, Deputy Sheriffs, and numerous assistants. While it would require more pages than your newspaper has to name all the support staff for those offices, the inability to mention each one does not mean their roles are not important. In fact, some of the public functions the deputies and admin-staff perform are where the rubber meets the road if you or your family need government services.

You may have never thought about all the government employees you hire and pay or you may have wondered: “How do I get that done and who does it where?” Well, on the day after Christmas you have the opportunity to see in person many of the people who will be sworn in to help you.

If you have questioned whether our democracy is alive and well, come to the Courthouse and see it in action. It will make you feel good.

Hello From Reno

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At their regular meeting held 03 April 2018 the Posey County Board of Commissioners listened attentively and courteously to my plans for an auxiliary courtroom. President Jim Alsop and Commissioners Jay Price and Carl Schmitz asked relevant questions and made helpful suggestions.

A small but highly useful courtroom can be in operation on the first floor of the courthouse within a short time and for relatively little expense, certainly less than $50,000 for the physical plant and about $40,000 per year salary for a full-time court reporter. The judicial officer could be a senior judge or magistrate who would serve as needed. Senior judges are paid by the State of Indiana so there would be no cost to Posey County for a per diem judge. A magistrate would probably have to be paid by the county.

The Posey Circuit Court has not been allowed a new court reporter position for twenty years although I have noted the real need in several budget requests and our caseload has grown dramatically since 1998. The new full-time court reporter could be dedicated to this new court but could help relieve the burden on the existing court reporters when not in session with the on-call judge(s). Mental health, juvenile delinquency, Children in Need of Services and other confidential or sensitive hearings that usually involve few people but can be emotionally draining or rambunctious as well as numerous logistical matters that strain the regular Judge’s docket could be conducted in this smaller courtroom.

And Posey County’s Sheriff and Judges have long sought video capability for inmates, expert witnesses, disabled persons and numerous other routine matters, warrant applications, for example, or confidential electronic meetings between clients and attorneys.

The Commissioners sought to have a joint meeting about these issues with the Posey County Council on April 17, 2018 but schedules of all the necessary participants could not be accommodated for that date. The Commissioners wanted Chief Probation Officer Rodney Fetcher and me to set forth our plans then. As fortune would have it, I had planned to attend that April 17th meeting, but the Commissioners and Council had to reschedule it to May 01, 2018. Rodney will be there prepared to respond to any inquiries, but I will be helping teach other judges at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada on that day. Perhaps I can call in or attend electronically. I know we could work out such a video/audio conference if our new courtroom were already in operation.

A Tough Illness That Requires Tough Medicine

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Some medical conditions, say the flu, can be diagnosed and easily cured. Of course, if the flu is actually pneumonia the patient may not fare so well. Some medical conditions even if correctly identified may not be easily treated, certain cancers for example. And some cancers even if properly addressed may metamorphosize into others that are fatal.

In our Body Politic a serious condition we must either deal with or be permanently affected by is our Child In Need of Services problem. And even if we do not ignore it, a potentially fatal mistake, the cures we apply will be unavoidably complicated and expensive. Of course, to ignore a cancer is to court our own demise.

In this frenetic world of crisis-a-minute news and infuriatingly complex day-to-day existence, we just do not have the time or energy or money to be aware of and address all the problems that may seriously affect us. So we can be forgiven if we would prefer to ignore the extremely complex problems of child and family welfare, especially other people’s children and families.

But just as a spot on the skin may be the harbinger of disaster if ignored, if we do not attempt to help an abused or neglected child now, that child or that family may cause all of us harm later. And that harm may be a great deal more difficult and expensive than it would cost to prevent it now.

The complexity of our child welfare problem is highlighted by the Indiana Legislature’s scattergun reaction to the criticism of the former State Director of the Department of Family and Child Services who resigned in despair. Just in this year’s session of the General Assembly fourteen bills concerning DCS matters were introduced. This is a positive sign but just as “all politics is local” we in Posey County, Indiana, just as each of Indiana’s other 91 counties, must take some responsibility for our own situation.

In each county the general needs may be similar but specific needs may call for different approaches. Any solution should include numerous institutions such as the Department of Child Services, the schools, all police agencies, the County Council and Board of Commissioners, the Prosecutor’s office, the medical and mental health agencies and the courts. Of course, the most important constituency in this integrated approach must be the public along with the news media.

As I indicated last week I have plenty to do just in the Posey Circuit Court so that’s where I’ll concentrate next week as we work together to craft a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating our Child In Need of Services situation in Posey County.

A Gordian Knot

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Perhaps we need to channel Alexander the Great (356 – 323 B.C.) to help us address our Gordian Knot type problem of child welfare. You will recall Alexander eschewed the niceties of trying to unravel the problem step by laborious step and simply slashed through the morass of hemp with his sword. A tempting approach to any complicated puzzle but probably of little lasting benefit.

As we know from experience, every complicated situation can be papered over with a simple, wrong answer. We naturally yearn for quick and cheap solutions but these never cure the “disease” and often result in fatalities. That is what the former Indiana State Department of Children’s Services Director Mary Beth Bonaventura pointed out in her letter of resignation. She told Governor Eric Holcomb our current failure to adequately fund and analyze our child welfare needs will, “[A]ll but ensure children will die.”

And while this dramatic statement grabs our attention, what former Judge Bonaventura did not say was that Indiana child welfare is not just a DCS problem; it involves numerous other state and county level agencies such as courts, prosecutor offices, police departments, healthcare providers, schools, and several others in addition to families, immediate and extended.

I have plenty to do as Posey Circuit Court Judge when it comes to children who have need of or who use up taxpayer provided services. While I know we must approach this crisis of Children in Need of Services from all angles, I also know all hard problems call for careful, incremental approaches. So I will stay within my jurisdiction and address how the Judicial branch of government could help if the Legislative and Executive branches assist us to.

First let me give you an idea of how most Indiana courts, especially in small counties, must address the needs of families. Posey County has two judges. We divide all legal matters in such a way about half of the cases go to each court. The Circuit Court hears the Child in Need of Services cases. Frequently a family in DCS cases consists of one mother, two or more children and two or more fathers.

These are critical matters. Children may be at physical or mental risk, parents may be at risk of losing their children and the DCS has the duty to protect everyone’s interests while the Court must protect everyone’s rights. Each parent needs an attorney and in every case a Guardian Ad Litem must be appointed by the Court to concentrate on the children’s interests. Of course, wealthy people rarely are inconvenienced by such legal matters so the taxpayers must provide. You can readily see where we are headed.

This scenario also calls for Family Case Managers, police officers, mental and medical professionals, court personnel and a courtroom with lights, heat, recording equipment, etc.

Okay, I know this is exhausting. However, there is no Gordian Knot solution. It comes down to hard, complicated and expensive work. On the other hand, what could be more important?

Why A Blindfolded Justice?

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You may know that for about twenty years I have been serving on the faculty of the National Judicial College where judges teach other judges to be judges. The NJC has a fairly high-tech approach due to needing to reach judges from all across America and in many foreign countries. About six years ago the College asked me and five other faculty judges to conduct a seven-week Internet class. Each faculty member is assigned areas of concentration. Mine are Court and Case Management and Judicial Ethics. If you have followed Gavel Gamut recently you may recall the other faculty and I just completed this year’s course.

Now, this week you and I could address the vicissitudes of Hoosier football or the most salacious sexual harassment scandal. Perhaps we could delve into the mysteries of competing religious philosophies or even this week’s almost certain to occur mass shooting. But I know my audience, small though it may be, and I am confident you would prefer to reflect upon the issues I hammered into the student judges via the Internet. Let’s get right to it.

May we start with the simple question, “Why do we even have Courts?” This topic might feel a little broad and somewhat amorphous. So, why don’t we narrow our focus and discuss just one court, say the Posey Circuit Court; What is its purpose?

Posey County government has numerous elements but each part can be reasonably placed in three general categories: (1) Executive, such as the Board of County Commissioners, (2) Legislative, the County Council; and (3) the Judiciary, which consists of two courts, Superior and Circuit.

The Commissioners are hired by Posey County voters to plan and execute short, medium and long-term functions, such as roads, jails and courthouses. The County Council is charged with managing the funding of all county services. I do not mean to ignore the important duties of such officers as the Prosecuting Attorney, the Sheriff, the County Clerk, the Treasurer, Assessor, Auditor and many other public servants. However we are painting with a very broad brush here; general, three-branch democracy is our subject.

Officials who engage in executive or legislative functions are not only allowed to, they are encouraged to advocate for certain policies and positions. Should Posey County have zoning and, if so, what kind? Can Posey County afford to hire more workers, and, if so, how much should they be paid? In county government there are thousands of important and often competing interests and interest groups to be advocated for and against. These are proper functions of those two branches of Posey County government. Therefore, it is altogether fitting that politics are involved. Policies are advanced and the voters decide whose policies they prefer, Democracy at work.

But, what happens when competing interests reach a conflict or an impasse? Where do citizens look to get a problem resolved? Where is there a fair arbiter? And, most importantly, where can citizens go with confidence the arbiter is not biased for or against either side? Of course, it is the Court, HOPEFULLY. However, if the Judge is perceived to be beholding to particular groups, a political party for example, people may fear any decisions the Judge makes is based less on fact than favor.

Perhaps next week you can be regaled with an even more in depth exposition of what I taught the judges about judges who may be perceived as partisan instead of blind to the identities and attachments of the people who have to appear in front of the Judge in Court.

Talk Is Cheap (& Better)

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Gentle Reader, you may recall last week’s column that set out the general philosophy of the Posey Circuit Court: “Talking is better than fighting”. Or, more generally, resolving conflicts instead of exacerbating them is what courts should do and the earlier the better.

Over twenty years ago my staff and I were searching for ways to ease the pain of Posey County families involved in divorce cases. At that time, my court reporter Synda Waters had the main responsibility for domestic relations matters in the Posey Circuit Court. With Synda’s help and the input of the rest of the court staff we initiated the procedure we still use today to attempt to assuage the fear, anger and frustration of couples who managed to once fall in love but for myriad reasons must now apply to the Court to untangle themselves.

The most salient feature we noted in many of these cases was people refused to talk to one another. Pride, disgust, jealousy, etc., etc., etc., prevented once loving couples from communicating with each other and, therefore, from any real chance of solving their problems.

Other sticking points were often lack of money and almost every case took too long. We decided we needed a faster, cheaper, less traumatic system of getting divorcing couples to where they could get on with their new lives even though they might still be tethered to their old ones, say for example, because of children or ongoing businesses.

We knew that statistically practically every court case resulted in some form of settlement. So we sought a procedure that would help couples settle their cases by themselves inexpensively and as close as possible to when the case was filed. Talking to one another at the beginning of the case as opposed to avoiding contact until later during an expensive and lengthy trial appeared to us to offer a better opportunity to set aside pride and discuss problems. The court-ordered Pre-pre-trial method was born.

Couples who had ceased communicating during their marriage were encouraged and facilitated by the Court to meet and attempt to resolve their conflicts. What we found was that once couples discussed their problems, often with the help of a court-appointed mediator, they could usually settle their case on their own. This simple, inexpensive procedure usually results in cases being resolved, children being better cared for, money being saved and families being able to maintain civil relationships even after the divorce.

A similar procedure is employed in most cases in the Posey Circuit Court although, of course, not every case is settled early and sometimes problems never get solved. However, I suggest Posey County is a more pleasant place for all of us to live when people with what they may have once thought were intractable problems sit down and work them out on their own.

As I have occasionally explained to warring couples who find it difficult to talk to one another and instead decide to come into Court spoiling for a fight, they can either have some stranger, me for example, decide their futures or they can do it themselves quicker, cheaper and better.

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