Rule 79.Special judge selection: circuit, superior, and probate courts

When a change of judge is granted under Rule 76, or when a judge has to step aside on their own, Indiana still needs a working answer to “who decides this case now.” Rule 79 supplies that answer for circuit, superior, and probate courts in civil and juvenile cases; its companion, Rule 79.1, handles the same problem for city, town, and Marion County small claims courts. Section (B) puts the responsibility on the parties to tell the court promptly whenever a motion or application for change of judge is filed, and section (C) spells out when a judge must step aside on their own: whenever the judge, the judge’s spouse, a relative within the third degree of either of them, that relative’s spouse, or someone living in the judge’s household is a party or an officer, director, or trustee of a party; is acting as a lawyer in the case; has a known interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome; or has a connection to the case requiring disqualification under the Code of Judicial Conduct or otherwise.

Once a special judge is needed, Rule 79 works through a sequence of options. First, sections (D) and (H) give the parties seven days from the court record noting the change or disqualification to agree in writing on an eligible special judge, or to agree to use the local-rule selection process instead; an agreed judge then has seven days to accept, and filing that acceptance alone — no oath required — vests jurisdiction. If the parties cannot agree, or their chosen judge declines, section (H) turns to a local rule the Indiana Supreme Court has approved, which draws on eligible judges within the same administrative district or a contiguous county who have agreed to serve, spreads the workload across the district, and certifies to the Supreme Court any case where no eligible local judge exists or special circumstances call for the Supreme Court to pick someone directly. A judge appointed this way must take the case unless disqualified, ineligible, or excused by the Supreme Court, and the appointment order itself counts as acceptance. Section (K) covers the Supreme Court’s own direct appointments, including a wider pool that can reach any member of the state bar, in which case — and only in which case — an oath is required.

Section (J) defines who counts as eligible in the first place: any regular circuit, superior, or probate court judge, any senior judge, or any full-time judicial officer of a court of record, unless that person has already served as judge or special judge in the case (with one exception — a judge who granted a change of venue to another county can become the special judge there if that judge, the receiving judge, and every party agree), is disqualified by interest or relationship, or has been excused by the Supreme Court. A special judge does not need to live in the county where the case is pending. Sections (I), (L), and (M) handle what happens next: if a sitting special judge stops acting, the regular judge resumes if eligible, otherwise a successor is appointed the same way; if a special judge is unavailable for a scheduled hearing, another eligible judicial officer can step in temporarily or the hearing gets reset; and once a special judge takes over, that judge keeps the case through judgment and enforcement — including custody, support, and property modifications, and post-conviction relief — unless a rule says otherwise or the judge becomes unavailable. A special judge who is also a regular judge with jurisdiction in their own court can even move the whole case there, sharing any change-of-venue fees as agreed or as the court orders.

The last sections manage logistics and pay. Section (N) pushes special judges toward phone and remote conferences where possible, lets them handle motions and administrative matters from their own county, but generally requires hearings with live witness testimony to happen in the court where the case is pending, unless everyone agrees otherwise on the record or, outside a jury trial, the special judge finds exceptional circumstances justifying a hearing elsewhere; the home court must still supply facilities and staff. Section (O) preserves the original court’s power to handle emergencies until the special judge formally accepts jurisdiction. And section (P) sets compensation: a full-time judge, magistrate, or judiciary employee gets no special separate fee for this work, a senior judge is paid under the administrative rules that already cover senior judges, and everyone else earns twenty-five dollars a day per case for entering judgments, orders, and related hearings, plus mileage, lodging, and meal reimbursement when serving outside their home county, all paid by the state.