In 1989, the legislature authorized the creation of the Senior Judge program allowing Indiana courts to use the services of retired or former judges to supplement existing judicial resources (IC 33-23-3-1). As envisioned, courts now use senior judges as a replacement in the absence of a regular judge, as a complement to the regular judge or to oversee the processing of certain types of cases or court programs.

The Indiana Supreme Court is responsible for promulgating rules to further define the certification and appointment process for senior judges (IC 33-24-3-7). In response to the continuing growth of the senior judge program, the Supreme Court promulgated Administrative Rule 5 in 2003, which delineated the parameters for the certification and use of senior judges.

Currently, Indiana has some 92 former judges certified as senior judges. During 2007 (the last year of complete annual information), senior judges served a total of 3,810 days, Under Indiana’s weighted caseload analysis, this service is equivalent to that of 21 full time judges.