INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s Judicial Nominating Commission took only minutes to confer before unanimously selecting Indiana Supreme Court Justice Loretta Rush to continue as chief justice.
“We have to have a strong judiciary. You have to have a judiciary that people trust because that’s our currency,” she said. “I love Indiana courts. You know, I’ve professionally been in them all. I’ve seen a lot of great changes and improvements. And it motivates me to see what can we do better.”
Rush has been on the state’s highest court since 2012 after being appointed by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels.
The commission named Rush Indiana’s first female chief justice in August 2014, the same year voters retained her as a Supreme Court judge. She was last reappointed to the chief justice role in 2019. Voters will choose whether to retain her as a judge on November 5.
All four of Rush’s counterparts on the court supported her reappointment.
Supreme Court Justice Derek Molter said, “It’s impressive what she can do on her own but what transcends, what’s incredibly impactful, is the way she brings the team up around her.”
As chief justice, Rush is responsible for supervising Indiana’s judicial branch. The role involves working with the state legislature to secure funding and allocate resources, as well as overseeing a multi-agency central administrative office that handles everything from caseload measures and technology updates to the admission and discipline of lawyers.
She acknowledged that people have lost trust in courts and have focused too much on who appointed justices and their political views. All five of Indiana’s justices were appointed by Republicans.
Read the entire Niki Kelly story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
