Ind. Sup. Ct. Order Approving Local Rules: order-local-rules-2025-25S-MS-41

In the

Indiana Supreme Court

In the Matter of the Approval of Local

Rules for Sullivan County

Supreme Court Case No.

25S-MS-41

Order Approving Amended Local Rule

The Judges of the Sullivan Circuit and Superior Courts request the approval of an

amended local rule for caseload allocation and criminal case assignment in accordance with

Administrative Rule 1(E). Attached to this Order is the proposed amended local rule.

Upon examination of the proposed rule amendments requested by the Sullivan Circuit and

Superior Courts, this Court finds that the proposed amendments to LR77-AR 1-1 comply with

the requirements of Administrative Rule 1(E), and, accordingly, should be approved.

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED by this Court that amended Local Rule, LR77-AR 1-1,

for the Sullivan Circuit and Superior Courts, set forth as an attachment to this Order, is effective

on the date of this Order.

Done at Indianapolis, Indiana, on ___________ .

Loretta H. Rush

Chief Justice of Indiana

2/18/2025

LR77-AR 1-1 Sullivan County Plan for

Allocation of Judicial Resources

SULLIVAN COUNTY PLAN FOR ALLOCATION OF JUDICIAL RESOURCES

A. Sullivan Circuit Court: The Sullivan Circuit Court shall have exclusive

jurisdiction over the following Court dockets:

1. Juvenile Cases: Delinquency, Paternity, Chins

2. Probate Cases: Estates, Guardianships, Adoptions, except those cases

filed by the Hawkins Law Firm

3. Civil Commitments (Mental Health cases)

B. Sullivan Superior Court: The Sullivan Superior Court shall exclusive

jurisdiction over the following Court dockets:

1. Small Claims

2. Felony (I.C. 9-30-5-3; 9-30-5-4; and 9-30-5-5) and all Misdemeanors

3. Traffic Infractions.

4. All civil cases filed by the Hawkins Law Firm.

C. CONCURRENT JURISDICTION: The Sullivan Circuit Court and the Sullivan

Superior Court will each have jurisdiction over the following Court dockets:

1. Civil

1. Criminal Felony

2. Civil Venue cases from Vigo County

3. Protective Orders

4. Divorces and Legal Separations

D. Random Case Assignment: Cases involving concurrent jurisdiction shall be

assigned randomly by the Clerk of the Sullivan Circuit and Superior Courts. This

shall be accomplished by utilizing JTS Case Tracking Software which randomly

assigns cases on a 50:50 ratio between Sullivan Circuit Court and the Sullivan

Superior Court. However, there are some instances in which random case

assignment will not conducted.

Those Exceptions are as follows:

1. Criminal Felony Case Assignment: If a criminal non-support of a

dependent child case is filed and Sullivan Court has appending case

in which the child support obligation was either established or

enforced, then the criminal non-support case shall be filed in the

same Court in which the child support obligation was established or

enforced. The Clerk of the Court will override the random case

assignment process and assign the criminal non-support case to the

appropriate Court.

2. Companion Civil Filings: In the event two or more civil causes are

identified by the filing party as companion cases, arising from the

same circumstances, with similar issues of fact and law, the Clerk

will utilize random case assignment to assign a Court to the first

cause. The Clerk of the courts will then override the random case

assignment process and assign any companion cases the same Court.

3. Subsequent Criminal Filings: The Circuit Court and the Superior

Court state that the policy of the Courts is to have all criminal cases

pending against an individual filed in the same Court. Therefore,

when a criminal case is filed, the Prosecuting Attorney and the Clerk

shall determine if the accused has additional criminal charges

pending. When the new criminal charge is filed in the Court where

the additional criminal charges are pending, the Clerk shall override

the random case assignment and assign the new criminal charge to

the appropriate Court.

E. Transfer: The Judge of the Sullivan Circuit Court or the Sullivan Superior Court,

by appropriate order entered in the Record of Judgments and Orders, may transfer

and reassign any case to the other Court, subject to acceptance by the receiving

Court.

F. Refiling: When the filing party and/or the State of Indiana dismisses a case and

chooses to refile that case, the case shall be reassigned to the Court from which the

dismissal was taken.