Cass County Judge Lisa Swaim a finalist for Court of Appeals seat
May 17—Cass County Superior Court II Judge Lisa Swaim has been named one of 12 finalists for a position on the Indiana Court of Appeals.
It's the second highest court in the state, just under the Indiana Supreme Court.
The Judicial Nominating Commission interviewed 23 candidates last week cut the list to 12 finalists for the District 2 opening.
Swaim and the other finalists will interview with the Commission for a second time on June 8.
The vacancy is the result of the retirement of Court of Appeals Judge James S. Kirsch in the Fall 2021. According to the Indiana Constitution and state statute, the seven-member Judicial Nominating Commission must recruit and select candidates to fill vacancies on Indiana appellate courts.
Applications and photographs of judges and lawyers who were interviewed for the position are available online. The Commission considers applicants' legal education, writings, reputation in the practice of law, and other pertinent information.
Following the June public interviews, the Commission will meet in an executive session and then publicly vote to select the three most qualified candidates, which will be submitted to Governor Eric Holcomb. He has 60 days from receiving the list to select the next judge.
Swaim became Cass County's first female judge in December 2019. She started in Cass County about 22 years ago as Chief Deputy Prosecutor after working Marion County Prosecutor's Office.
She became the county prosecutor in January 2015, the first woman in that role, too.
There are a total of 15 Indiana Court of Appeals judges from five districts, and they overhear appeals in groups of three on a rotating basis.
The rotation is figured so that all 15 work with each other at least once over a 2-1/2 year period.
District 2 covers much of the north central area of Indiana.
