By Mark Webber | The Republic
mwebber@therepublic.com
It appears likely that, beginning next year, two of Bartholomew County’s three major judges will be former chiefs of police.
In the four-person GOP primary for Bartholomew Superior Court 2 Judge, Jonathan “Jon” Rohde took an early lead after the first early voting results came out Tuesday. Rohde, who spent five years as the Columbus Police Chief, managed to keep his advantage throughout the evening. He ended with 32% of the vote – about 4% more than second-place finisher Scott Andrews.
Another former Columbus police chief, James Worton, is judge for Bartholomew Superior Court 1. For a brief time, Rohde and Worton maintained a law office.
“My team, as well as my family, worked day-in and day-out,” Rohde said. “We knew we would be at peace today because we knew we worked as hard as we could – no matter how it turns out.”
While Andrews gave his supporters and family members similar praise, “it just wasn’t enough,” he said.
Coming in with about 21% of the vote was Dominic “Dom” Glover, a 1989 graduate of Columbus North High School who received his law degree from Indiana University in 1997.
The past president of the Bartholomew County Bar Association is a law partner with three family members of the judge he was hoping to succeed. Kathleen “Kitty” Tighe Coriden announced on May 8, 2019 that she would retire as Superior Court 2 judge at the end of this year.
In fourth place — garnering about 18% of the votes — was Bartholomew County Magistrate Joe Meek. The former managing partner of the Witte and Meek law firm has been magistrate in Coriden’s court for 17 years.
Meek said he was prohibited from any campaign activity during work hours. And when he was allowed to campaign, he had to be careful not to say how he might rule on any particular case, nor state any position on an issue.
“You have to show judicial restraint in what you say and how you say it, because everybody is watching you,” Meek said. “Judges are held to a higher standard, so in primaries, it really is a lot about name recognition.”
Historically, Superior Court 2 has been the highest volume court in Bartholomew County. The most recent data reveals more than 2,500 new criminal cases and over 6,000 new civil cases are filed in that court every year.
No Democrats have filed to seek the judge’s seat.
How You Voted
Bartholomew Superior Court 2 Judge
Scott Andrews (R); 2,918
Dominic Glover (R); 2,194
Joe Meek (R); 1,868
Jon Rohde (R); 3,274
