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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has selected the president of Indiana University Health Fort Wayne as the newest member of the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission.
Brian Bauer, of Columbia City, a nonlawyer, will replace Rudy Yakym III as the third district representative on the seven-member commission, Holcomb announced last week. Bauer will serve until Dec. 31, 2023, and fill the remainder of the term vacated by Yakym’s resignation.
Yakym recently resigned from the JNC after Indiana Republicans picked him to replace U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski on the November ballot for Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District. Walorski, 58, and three others died in a vehicle crash last month in northern Indiana.
Yakym is running in both a special election to complete Walorski’s current term and in the General Election, where Walorski was seeking reelection.
Bauer — who was selected for IBJ Media’s inaugural Indiana 250, a list of the state’s most influential leaders, this past summer — has been president of IU Health Fort Wayne since 2019.
The JNC, chaired by Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush, is “charged with vetting applications and submitting a list of the three most qualified applicants to the Governor for each vacancy that occurs on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or Tax Court.”
The seven members of the JNC include three attorneys, three nonlawyers appointed by the governor, and the chief justice of Indiana or a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court whom the chief justice may designate.
No member of the JNC, other than the chief justice or their designee, may hold any other salaried public office, and no member may hold an office in a political party or organization — hence why Yakym resigned.
Other JNC members include nonlawyers Katie Glick of Columbus and Danny Lopez of Carmel, and lawyer members Anthony W. Patterson of Lebanon, William E. Winingham of Indianapolis and Holly Wojick of Merillville.
Currently, there is one vacancy on the Court of Appeals of Indiana, from the second district, as Justice Derek Molter recently moved up to the Supreme Court.
The JNC is scheduled to interview candidates to succeed Molter on Sept. 27.
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