Judicial Appointments & Elections

COA elects Judge Altice as Chief

The judges of the Court of Appeals of Indiana elected Judge Robert R. Altice, Jr., to serve a three-year term as Chief Judge, succeeding his colleague Judge Cale J. Bradford.

Judge Altice joined the Court of Appeals in 2015 after being appointed by Governor Mike Pence. He began his legal career as a deputy prosecutor in Jackson County, Missouri before focusing on medical malpractice defense at a Kansas City firm. After joining an Indianapolis firm to concentrate on insurance defense, Judge Altice went on to prosecute major felonies for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office from 1994-2000. After his 2000 election to the Marion County bench, he presided at more than 250 major felony jury trials and 15 civil jury trials. He was Presiding Judge of the Marion Superior Court from 2009-2011.

Judge Altice is a member of the Indiana Judges Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the Judicial Conference of Indiana. He was a member of the Indiana Judicial Conference Community Relations Committee, as well as the Civil Benchbook Committee. Recently, he chaired the Eviction Diversion Task Force which assisted Indiana tenants and landlords in receiving funds from the COVID relief bill.

Judge Altice earned his B.A. from Miami University, Ohio, an M.S. in criminal justice administration from the University of Central Missouri, and his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Dana Kenworthy appointed to the Court of Appeals

Governor Eric Holcomb appointed Grant County Superior Court Judge Dana Kenworthy the next member of the Indiana Court of Appeals, filling the vacancy created when Justice Derek R. Molter was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Before being appointed to Grant County Superior Court 2 in 2010, Judge Kenworthy spent ten years as a Grant County Deputy Prosecutor focusing on cases involving child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, computer-facilitated crimes, and juvenile delinquency. During this time, she also served as a guardian ad litem, a course instructor for Finding Words (a program that teaches interview techniques to question children in a nonleading way), and as a coordinator for Grant County’s Pro Bono Program. In 2005, Judge Kenworthy received the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Outstanding Prosecutor Award. She earned the Randall T. Shepard Award from the Indiana Pro Bono Commission in 2006, and a multidisciplinary team she assembled to respond to the changing needs of CHINS cases resulted in the creation of Grant County’s Family Recovery Court in 2015. This court was recognized by the Family Service Society, Inc. in 2019, and was named one of eight FRC Peer Learning Courts in the nation in 2021.

Judge Kenworthy was elected by her peers and continues to serve on the Indiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Board of Directors. She served on the Juvenile Justice Improvement Committee and the Indiana Supreme Court Resuming Operations Task Force, which established guidelines for ongoing court operations after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Born and raised in Miami County, Judge Kenworthy earned her bachelor’s degree from Ball State University and graduated summa cum laude from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. She currently lives in Grant County, where she and her husband have fostered 15 children in their home over the years.

Morgan County

Dakota VanLeeuwen was appointed by Governor Eric Holcomb to the Morgan Superior Court. She will succeed Judge Peter Foley who was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Indiana in September 2022. VanLeeuwen began working in private practice in Morgan County in 2018 and has been a public defender in Morgan, Vigo, and Clay counties. Before this, she served as a deputy prosecutor in Marion County. While in college, VanLeeuwen was a law enforcement officer with the Indiana University Police Department. She received both her B.A. and law degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington.

Newly Elected Trial Court Judges

The following trial court judges were elected in November 2022:

Honors & Awards

ALI Elects New Members

Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Judge Heather Welch have both been elected as new members of the American Law Institute. Members were selected from confidential nominations submitted by ALI members for the September 15, 2022, deadline.

The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law.

Molly Kitchell Appointed to Judicial Nominating Commission

Molly Kitchell has been appointed to the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission to represent the first appellate district until December 31, 2025. Kitchell also serves on the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.

CASA Conference & Awards

The 26th Annual GAL/CASA conference “The Power of One” was held in French Lick on October 1, 2022. Over 600 GAL/CASA program staff and volunteers attended the event. The program featured two keynote speakers:

Dr. Richard Antoine White, who shared how resilience, determination, and the positive impact of one or more individuals took him from homelessness to becoming the first African American to earn a Doctor of Music in Tuba Performance.

Jamole Callahan, an international trainer and motivational speaker, discussed experiences including leading a group of current and former foster youth through the process of working with legislators to develop the Foster Stable Housing Opportunities Act.

Awards were given during the conference for the CASA Director, Staff Member, and Volunteer of the Year. Deena Hubler of the Dubois County CASA Program was recognized as the 2022 Director of the Year for the leadership and vision with which she has grown the program since taking on the position in 2008. The Staff Member of the Year award went to Beth Ficker, a supervisor for CASA volunteers in Spencer County. Janet Halderman’s 14 years of service in Wabash County earned her the 2022 Volunteer of the Year award.

Supreme Court Annual Report

The Indiana Supreme Court’s annual report is available online. The report details the work the Court and its affiliated agencies accomplished during the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

The Court received 634 cases, heard 37 oral arguments, and handed down 81 total opinions. 77% of the Court’s opinions were unanimous. Along with detailing the activity of the Court, the report also includes statistics and information about the Court’s Office of Judicial Administration initiatives.