During her annual State of the Judiciary Address Wednesday, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush said in the year of the state’s Bicentennial, the court system will seek to be, in her words, more nimble, affordable, accessible and user-friendly.
Indiana’s mounting drug crisis has captured the attention of the governor and lawmakers over the last year. Rush says it’s no different for Indiana’s trial court judges. She cites a Fayette County judge who says his county of just 23,000, saw 30 heroin overdoses in 30 days. And Rush says the state’s drug courts will play a vital role.
“We cannot afford to incarcerate or institutionalize our way out of this drug crisis,” Rush says. “Our approach must include helping sons and daughters, husbands and wives return to a life after addiction.”
Rush says that broader approach will work in concert with the state’s recent criminal code reform, which the court system continues to implement.
“The funding you’ve provided is already making a difference. 43 counties have added 84 new community corrections and probation officers,” she says.
In her address, Rush also honored Justice Brent Dickson, who will retire in April as the second-longest serving justice in state history.
