By DANIEL SUDDEATH
Daniel.Suddeath@newsandtribune.com
NEW ALBANY — Gov. Mitch Daniels’ signature is all that’s needed to begin redistributing juvenile court cases in Floyd County.
The Indiana Senate and House of Representatives have unanimously approved a bill that will allow the Floyd County Circuit Court to share its juvenile caseload with Floyd Superior Court No. 3.
The legislation only impacts Floyd County. It passed 50-0 in the Senate and 96-0 in the House.
Floyd Circuit Court Judge Terrence Cody pushed local legislators Rep. Ed Clere and Sen. Connie Sipes to support the bill, and Sipes authored the Senate version.
Cody said 22 percent of the Floyd Circuit Courtsworkload is comprised of juvenile cases.
“What it will allow, is that juvenile matters particularly in the delinquency area should be resolved quicker,” Cody said.
Floyd Superior No. 3 was created in 2009 to relieve some of the caseload of the county’s other courts. Judge Maria Granger presides over Floyd Superior No. 3, and Cody said she supports the move as well.
“In planning, we probably should have included concurrent juvenile jurisdiction with the Circuit Court, but that didn’t happen,” Cody said. “Judge Granger and I will work out the details for implementing” the case shift.
Attempts to reach Granger for a comment by The Tribune were unsuccessful as of press time.
Juvenile cases are typically broken down into three categories: Paternity suits, CHINS cases — which stands for Children In Need of Services — and delinquency matters which are criminal affairs.
The CHINS cases will likely remain in Circuit Court, according to Cody.
Cody said it’s difficult to predict when juvenile cases will spike, but added Floyd Circuit Court has seen an increase in them in recent years.
Sipes said the bill should result in a more unified court system.
“It is my hope that this increases efficiency and ensures a speedy process for every case,” she said.
