Web Exclusive: Spotlight: Wabash Circuit Judge Bob McCallen

Robert McCallen serves as Wabash Circuit Judge.

Many children who grow up in small Midwestern towns vow to leave right after high school — and that is exactly what Wabash Circuit Judge Bob McCallen did.

Of course, he also did what many did not expect — came back to Indiana and settled in.

McCallen moved to Oklahoma for a bit after college but came home after hearing about an opening at a local law firm.

He was later elected judge in 2004 and took the bench at the beginning of 2005, staying there for the nearly two decades since.

McCallen is the latest Indiana trial court judge to be featured in Indiana Lawyer’s Spotlight series profiling judges in more rural communities. Here’s what he had to say about life on and off the bench.

Where did you go for your undergraduate degree?

My undergrad was at IU Bloomington and then my law school was in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

What did you study for your undergrad?

My undergrad was business at the Indiana University School of Business.

What drew you to Oklahoma?

Well, a couple of things. I knew growing up I didn’t want to live in Wabash. I think that was my goal as a kid, and I shared it with most of my classmates. Sometimes you’ve got to get away to appreciate things more. I had family in Arkansas and Tulsa, and I liked Tulsa. I applied out there and got accepted. At the time they had a good oil and gas program, which I was interested in, but it was kind of the bust of the oil and gas industry. When I graduated in ‘87, a local firm was hiring and my dad told me about it. He’d been an attorney and I came back and interviewed and moved back and have been here since.

What drew you to law?

I grew up as a son of an attorney. My father was an attorney that moved from Illinois. He graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1956 and moved up to Wabash to start a practice and then stayed ever since then. So I kind of followed in my dad’s footsteps.

Is there anybody else in your family who are also lawyers?

I have a nephew now that’s practicing up in Warsaw, and I have a cousin out in Boise, Idaho, and then there’s a cousin of my grandfather who was a judge over in Effingham, Illinois.

Did you ever expect that you would follow in your family’s footsteps?

No, I had no intention of doing it. I thought business school would lead me to a different career path. But at the time I got out, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do, and my dad encouraged me to go to law school and I liked it. I had no intention of being a judge, either. I kind of liked the small town practice. But in the beginning of 2004, Judge (Daniel) Vanderpool told us in a bar meeting he was going to be retiring, and so I started thinking a little bit differently and fortunately, I put my hat in the ring. Nobody else ran against me and I’ve never been opposed.

What was your practice area when you first started out?

It was a general practice: family law, criminal law (and) I was a public defender. In 1990, I became city attorney for the mayor, Dallas Winchester, and I served under three straight mayors until 2004. My dad actually became the mayor at one point; he had been the city attorney, so I followed his footsteps there. And then he was mayor, elected in 1995. I served with him for his term and then I served with his successor until 2003. In 1999, I opened up a private office by myself with my nephew who now practices in Warsaw. I was just doing that, with that being my plan for the rest of my life. And when the opportunity came up, I threw my hat in the ring and I was fortunate enough to be elected and not have to run a contested campaign.

 What or who inspires you?

I’ve been inspired by a few people. First of all, my parents. I wish every kid in the world could be born to wonderful parents. I deal with a docket that it’s exactly the opposite, where they sometimes don’t even have one good parent. So that was a good start. My dad led me to this law firm where I practiced here in Wabash. So, my dad, my mom and (my mentor at my first firm) would be primary. I had the pleasure of working for Dallas Winchester, who was just a wonderful blue-collar mayor for a number of years and very popular, and he was always very encouraging to me.

 Is there anything you’ve learned about yourself during your time as judge?

I love what I’m doing for the most part. There are some very difficult cases. I have a docket that covers basically everything. I deal with child welfare. I do believe I’ve learned that I’m much more compassionate. I was just talking to a judge from another county, and sometimes you kind of feel like you’ve become a bit of a social worker. They have what are called problem-solving courts in Indiana. When I started in January 2005, about six months later, Judge Christopher Goff brought problem-solving courts to Wabash, and it was kind of a unique thing, some courts were doing it. And now, fast forward, Wabash County has three problem-solving courts. I have one with my family recovery court for the CHINS docket, my welfare cases, and I’ve found that we’ve become social workers more in our jobs trying to encourage people. We’ve learned we can’t incarcerate our way out of the problem; people have serious issues. I think I’ve learned to be more empathetic, because people really are dealt a bad set of cards and they have real obstacles in their life, and it has made me appreciate the circumstances of my birth: to be born to two wonderful parents, be the youngest of five kids and have a very close family. A lot of kids don’t have that, and that’s kind of heartbreaking. So if you can make a change somewhere, you feel really good about that.

 What are some of your favorite memories being a judge?

I love doing adoptions; (I’ve) probably done 50 to 60. Those are always happy days. I just enjoy the job responsibility of being judge. It’s funny, when I go to a class reunion, people that knew me in high school say, “What are you doing in Wabash?” When I moved back to Wabash I literally moved back into my front yard, so I really came back right to the roots. I raised my children here and my wife and I have three children and six grandchildren. I just enjoy the position; it is a variety, it’s something new every day. While it does come with its sad moments, we try and highlight and emphasize the happy ones, we try and throw a little humor when we can just to get through the day. I think the one thing I would tell people (is), “What I see, you can’t make this stuff up.” Sometimes it’s just beyond belief. But I also feel like it does give me a chance to make a difference. I do really think I’m very good in terms of compassion. I don’t want a family to get destroyed in the process if there’s a divorce. I don’t want the parents to get in such a fight that they’ll never get along again, because they’re still going to have the children after the hearing’s done and they still need to raise them, they still need to partner. So I usually emphasize that — sometimes they listen and sometimes they don’t.

 What is something that you think is unique about being a judge in your community?

Well, there are only two or three of us there. There’s a city court judge and they’re not required by law in Wabash County to be an attorney. So there are two judges in a small county, so you really live among the people. I do most of my grocery shopping for my family, so I’m the Walmart, I’m the Kroger shopper, and I just love being a part of this community. It does isolate you a little bit. You feel a little bit different because you can’t be involved in certain things where they might come before you. But I also think it’s been an opportunity for me to get involved in a lot of charitable things that maybe otherwise I wouldn’t have been that I really am passionate about.

What are some of the charitable things you’ve done?

Well, one of my favorites was, there were four of us who started it. I used to cook chili with a friend, and we would go to the chili cookoff in Indianapolis. It’s called “Some Like it Hot.” It was sponsored by the Eiteljorg Museum. It was the largest chili cookoff in Indiana for a number of years, and we competed and we were successful. We won a few times. Then they quit doing that, and so we decided in Wabash to start it, so there were four of us that started the Wabash Cannonball Chili for Charity. I think it’s in its 18^th, 19^th year, I’m not sure. It’s one of the largest events east of the Mississippi, largest annual events. It’s been very successful. It’s just a fun thing to do to raise money. The other charity I’ve been very involved in is 85 Hope, which is a medical service for those that do not have insurance. Those are two of the ones that really touch my heart.

What are some of your hobbies?

Well, as we get older, my wife and I like to travel. We are working on our bucket list. We went to Sedona, Arizona, last summer and visited the Grand Canyon. We went on a hot air balloon ride, which was kind of a highlight for me. We really love to visit; we’ve got five of our grandkids who live close by. Our other grandchild lives in Florida, but fortunately it’s a direct flight from Fort Wayne down to where they live, so it’s only a couple hour trip to get down there. We like to spend time with our family, and I like to cook.

 Is there anything you’re looking at to change in your last term?

I would like to say that, over time, I’ve learned that we have to do things differently, and we’ve done that here in Wabash. One thing I’m very proud of is how we’ve handled our juveniles. We began participating in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative in about 2015. The science was that detaining kids was not in their best interest, and so we focused on avoiding that. What alternatives do we have? None of the goals were ever to save money, but we’ve saved hundreds and thousands of dollars not putting children in detention like they used to. We came up with alternatives to get services to the family quicker. So probably one of my most proud accomplishments was getting involved in the JDAI. I would encourage all judges across Indiana to look into that if you have juvenile jurisdiction.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that I didn’t think to ask you?

I would just say it’s a job that is difficult at times, it’s heartwarming at times. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I had no expectation of having this job, but when I got it, I relished it and I became very content. This is my last term, so I won’t be running again. My term ends in the end of 2028, and I’m just looking forward to kind of thinking about what the future holds, which I think is going to be traveling for my wife and I and spending time with the grandkids.•