Sec. 43. (a) The question of the retention in office or rejection of each judge of the St. Joseph superior court shall be submitted to the electorate of St. Joseph County at the general election immediately preceding expiration of the term of that judge.

     (b) A judge who wishes to be retained in office shall file a statement with the secretary of state, not later than noon July 15 of the year in which the question of retention of the judge is to be placed on the general election ballot, indicating that the judge wishes to have the question of the judge’s retention placed on the ballot. The judge’s statement must include a statement of the judge’s name as:

(1) the judge wants the judge’s name to appear on the ballot; and

(2) the candidate’s name is permitted to appear on the ballot under IC 3-5-7.

     (c) If a judge subject to this chapter does not file the statement required under subsection (b), the question of the judge’s retention in office or rejection may not be submitted to the electorate, and the office is vacant at the expiration of the term.

     (d) The St. Joseph County election board shall submit the question of the retention in office or rejection of any judge to the electorate of St. Joseph County. The submission of this question is subject to the provisions of IC 3 that are not inconsistent with this chapter.

     (e) At the general election, the question of the retention in office or rejection of a judge shall be submitted to the electorate of St. Joseph County in the form prescribed by IC 3-11 and must state “Shall Judge (insert name) of the St. Joseph superior court be retained in office for an additional term?”.

     (f) If a majority of the ballots cast by the electors voting on the question is “No”, the judge whose name appeared on such question is rejected. The office of the rejected judge is vacant on January 1 following the rejection. The vacancy shall be filled by appointment of the governor under section 40 of this chapter. The name of the rejected judge may not be included among those submitted to the governor. However, the judge’s rejection does not disqualify a rejected judge from being considered for another judicial office that becomes vacant.

[Pre-2004 Recodification Citation: 33-5-40-47.]

As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.58-2005, SEC.36; P.L.74-2017, SEC.77.