Published: October 04, 2008 10:57 pm         

ELECTION '08: Vigo County Superior Court Division 5

TERRE HAUTE — Both candidates for Judge of Vigo County Superior Court Division 5 say the top issues of the court include funding for the drug court program and efficient disposition of cases on the court’s packed docket; but the two differ on whose experience best matches those challenges.

Daniel W. Kelly, Republican, said he thinks his experience as a trial attorney for 20 years as well as a deputy prosecutor makes him the best candidate. He also states that his legal experience is broader.

Kelly, 47, states that he has nearly twice as many years of experience as Democratic challenger Michael Rader.

Rader, 57, has been practicing law for more than 11 years, and has been a practicing physician for 32 years.

Rader says he has more life experience and professional experience on both the medical and legal side of addiction — a primary component of the drug court program housed in Division 5.

“I think I have a wealth of life experiences,” Rader said. “I’ve taken care of people with addictions. I’ve treated people with addictions. I’ve dealt with the families of substance abusers and the families of alcoholics. I’ve seen the kind of devastation it can wreak on families, and I’ve literally seen children orphaned when Mom and Dad go to prison.

“I’ve seen it in a very personal, intimate kind of way, but I’ve also practiced law,” Rader said.

For Kelly, the drug court is a key element of Division 5.

Kelly said, “I spoke with a young lady recently who stopped me on the street and asked what I intended to do with the drug court, if I thought that was a good thing or not, and I told her I thought it was a wonderful thing … This woman volunteered that that program had completely turned her life around; she’s a professional person, well-educated, and her life was a mess. There are a lot of stories like that.

“I would like there to be a high percentage of those stories,” Kelly said.

The issue of funding for the drug court has given both candidates pause.

Kelly said, “I know there are some financial challenges to keep [drug court] afloat, and there have been some funding cutbacks that [sitting] Judge [Barbara] Brugnaux has had to deal with … dealing with the challenges of funding will take whoever the judge is a lot of time and attention and effort.”

Brugnaux, who was defeated in the May primary election, founded the Division 5 drug court program in 1996. In its first 10 years, the program saved taxpayers $3 million.

Rader said, “There are issues that relate to obtaining funding for drug court that certainly will need to be addressed … but I think funding is an issue across the board for local government. I intend to become more familiar with that once we’re past the election.”

Rader added, “I think it’s a little presumptuous at this point to be involved with issues of funding.”

Rader said another priority for the court is “having a smooth and uneventful transition from a sitting judge who’s been present for some years to a new judge who may have different ideas, different viewpoints, a different way of conducting the business of the court.”

The other primary issue Rader named was the “critical problem” of jail overcrowding.

“It’s extremely costly to taxpayers, and it’s a huge burden on the Sheriff’s Department,” Rader said.

“One of the issues we have to deal with is how many people can we accommodate in our jail and how do we deal with them?” Rader said. “If it means making sure that everyone has their day in court promptly, then we need to do that. If it means in certain instances using some judgment and common sense about who should be incarcerated and who may be allowed out on strict probation, then we need to do that, but that’s why you elect a judge … to have common sense and to exercise judgment.”

Beyond that, Rader said he did not want to presume to suggest changes to the court.

“That’s a very difficult thing to say until you’ve had an opportunity to see day to day exactly what the demands are in the court, and I think until I’ve had an opportunity to really do a careful assessment about the court’s workload, the kinds of cases that are coming through, and the demands that are being placed upon the court, I’d have some difficulty being very specific about what changes I’d want to make,” he said.

Kelly said he sees the court as having two broad priorities.

“Dispensing justice on the court’s very busy civil docket as fairly and efficiently as possible, and at the same time using the court’s powers on the criminal side to help force substance offenders to receive rehabilitation or suffer the consequences if they don’t choose that option. That sounds harsh,” he said, “but I do think that court offers an excellent opportunity for rehabilitation and I think a lot of people over the years have taken advantage of those options.”

Kelly said he hopes to keep the business of the court moving efficiently.

For civil cases that the judge takes under advisement, Kelly said he intends to “make a practice of ruling on [such cases] real promptly while the facts and everything are still fresh in my mind. I think that’s a challenge in that court because of the volume.”

In general, Kelly said, “You can have the most capable, competent judge there is, but I think it’s always important to be respectful to everybody that appears in that court, no matter who they are and what they may have done, and I would always want, whether civil litigants or criminal defendants, to rest assured that the disposition of their case will have absolutely nothing to do with the judge or the judge’s biases or mood or any of those other factors.

“It will be my best ruling based upon the facts and the law,” he added.

Rader said, “It’s my view that the court is there to serve the community in a very broad sense … not that we’re there to please the community always, because sometimes judgments and issues that come up don’t please everyone, but I’m saying the court is there to be open, accessible and available to the public, and we’re there to be fair and impartial, and we’re there to carry out the business of the court.”

He added, “Frankly, I’ve got a little more gray than my opponent, and I would hope that as long as I’ve lived that I’ve developed some measure of common sense and an ability to make decisions that make sense.”

Kelly said, “I’ve had a very general practice for a long time, and there are a lot of different kind of cases I’ve handled. I think I’ve been practicing about twice as long as Mike [Rader] and a lot of the time he’s been practicing, he’s been practicing medicine, too, and so his time is divided.

“I honestly think I am better prepared for the work of that court,” he said.

Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.kelly@tribstar.com.