The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 81 on senior judges and judges pro tempore authored by Sen. R. Michael Young. This bill allows a senior judge or a judge pro tempore serving in a county that has more than one superior court judge to, with the consent of any judge of a superior court in the county, sit as the judge of the superior court in any matter as if the senior judge or judge pro tempore were the elected judge or appointed judge of the superior court. It also provides that a judge pro tempore may serve as a judge of a superior court regardless of whether the appointed or elected judge of the superior court is present and available in the building that contains the superior court.
The bill was amended by consent to apply to circuit court and probate court. Judge Robert Freese of the Hendricks Superior Court testified in favor of the bill. The bill passed as amended, 10-0.
Read the bill at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2016/bills/senate/81