Judicial nominating panel awaits Holcomb picks with Boswell replacement first task

A seven-member judicial nominating commission will eventually be tasked with selecting a list of candidates to fill a judicial vacancy left by Lake Superior Judge Diane Boswell’s death.

Their role is to formally take applications, screen candidates, then send a list of five names to the governor. After that, Gov. Eric Holcomb has 60 days to make a selection.

However, the timing of that work is unclear, partly because Holcomb has yet to select his three choices for the commission.

That is expected “in the coming weeks,” his spokeswoman Erin Murphy said.

Boswell, 72, died Oct. 19 after a short illness. Following a career as a social worker and prosecutor, she was appointed as a judge in 2005. She was remembered by colleagues as a “beautiful soul” and kind friend to the legal community, who cared about the defendants who came before her.

LaPorte Superior Court Senior Judge Michael Bergerson is temporarily overseeing her courtroom. Her caseload includes the high-profile murder trial of James McGhee, which started Thursday after a two-day delay due to her death.

Boswell’s successor would be the new commission’s first vacancy, Indiana Supreme Court Chief Public Information Officer Kathryn Dolan said. State lawmakers changed the commission’s makeup for Lake and St. Joseph counties earlier this year. Indiana Supreme Court Justice Mark Massa was appointed as its chair in Lake County.

The new commission also faces a legal challenge.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. filed a lawsuit in federal court in May against the Lake County Judicial Nominating

Commission claiming the selection of judges was unconstitutional and disenfranchises minority voters. It is still pending.

Boswell’s supporters, including State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, and Barbara Bolling-Williams, the president of the Indiana chapter of the NAACP said previously they hoped a minority woman is appointed to her bench.

The selection committee includes three members approved by Lake County Commissioners, three selected by Holcomb, and Massa, who votes only as a tiebreaker.

The law calls for Holcomb’s commission picks to include a lawyer, a nonlawyer and at least one woman. The three county-appointed members are Merrillville-based immigration lawyer Alfredo Estrada, Gary city court administrator Aimbrell Holmes and Brandy Darling, a deputy prosecutor in Lake County’s

juvenile division.

Previously, its members were mostly selected by local attorneys — four Lake County lawyers, four non-attorney residents of Lake County and a member of the Indiana Supreme Court.

The commission is required to conduct all business, including indicating the finalists at a public meeting. A quorum includes four “voting” members.

Candidates for judge must live in Lake County and be admitted to the bar. They are evaluated on several factors including law school record, legal writings, public service, experience and reputation, judicial temperament, physical health, personality and judgment, possible conflicts of interest.

The commission can also look at “racial and gender diversity” if it “enhances the quality of the judiciary.”

Once appointed, the judge runs for retention two years later.