INDIANAPOLIS – The effort to remove Allen Superior Court Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger from the fall ballot passed its first administrative hurdle Tuesday when the co-directors of the Indiana Election Division formally agreed to accept the filing.
There had been some question whether the complaint met the appropriate deadline.
Scheibenberger filed his statement of candidacy in January. The deadline to contest that form was Feb. 26, according to the election division.
But there is also an Aug. 20 deadline to contest candidates who have filled vacancies on the ballot.
The Republican and Democratic co-directors of the division decided the law was not clear on which deadline applied, so they let the complaint proceed to the Indiana Election Commission.
In January 2009, the Indiana Supreme Court issued a judicial disciplinary action against Scheibenberger. It suspended the judge for three days without pay over comments he made to a defendant’s family in another judge’s courtroom in November 2007 while in his robe, an action the court said was that of a grieving parent.
The group of citizens who filed the complaint claims Indiana law governing the selection of Allen County Superior Court judges prohibits people from running for election if they have had any Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission action.
The law is unique to Allen and Vanderburgh counties.
Brad King, the GOP co-director, said the election code does not contain explicit language setting the deadline for filing a challenge to an Allen Superior Court judge candidate who files during the primary period but whose name does not appear on the May primary ballot.
Allen Superior Court judicial contests are considered non-partisan, so there are no primary races.
“Since we have no precedents in this area to guide us, and since resolving the issue involves more than a straightforward reading of statutory language, we have decided to accept the filing, and furnish the document to the election commission for their consideration and action,” King said.
The matter now moves to the four-member Indiana Election Commission, but no hearing date has been scheduled.
The commission consists of two Republicans and two Democrats, but one Republican seat is vacant. Gov. Mitch Daniels expects to make that appointment within the next week or so.
The commission can choose to decide the case based on the deadline issue or the merits of the complaint.
Scheibenberger has argued the law does not apply to him because he was disciplined as a judge, not as an attorney.
The high court took action on the complaint filed by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, an arm of the Indiana Supreme Court responsible for investigating complaints against judges throughout Indiana. The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission investigates and prosecutes claims of misconduct against lawyers licensed in Indiana.
