republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2021/hb-1453.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Judicial selection in Lake and St. Joseph counties."
description: "Provides that the judicial nominating commission (commission) for the Lake and St. Joseph superior courts consists of seven voting members, with three voting members appointed by the governor and three voting members appointed by the county board of commissioners, and the chief justice of Indiana or the chief justice's designee serving ex officio as a voting member only to resolve tie votes and as chairperson of the commission. (Current law provides that the commission for the Lake superior court consists of nine members.) Provides that the governor must appoint to the commission one attorney member, one nonattorney member who has never been licensed to practice law, and one member that is a woman. Provides that the county board of commissioners must appoint to the commission one attorney member, one nonattorney member who has never been licensed to practice law, and one member that is from a minority group. Provides that the chairperson of the commission shall have standing to dispute the validity of an appointed member. Provides that a voting member of the commission for: (1) the Lake superior court shall reside in Lake County; and (2) the St. Joseph superior court shall reside in St. Joseph County. Provides that a voting member may not have a prior felony conviction. Repeals provisions concerning the appointment of nonattorney commissioners and the election of attorney commissioners to the commission. Provides that after the commission has nominated and submitted to the governor the names of five persons to fill a vacancy in the Lake or St. Joseph superior court, the governor shall select the most qualified person to fill the vacancy. (Current law provides that the commission for the Lake superior court nominate and submit to the governor the names of three people to fill a vacancy in the superior court.) Makes conforming changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1453"
citation: "Indiana HB 1453 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF INDIANA", "JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS", "LAKE COUNTY", "ST. JOSEPH COUNTY"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Linda Rogers", "Mike Aylesworth", "Rick Niemeyer"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 27
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-14"
last_action: "2021-04-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bac1b665-50f3-4d4d-aea4-ce1bce328899"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1453"
source_hash: "824b2f9d722fefe6315ce0f44d673d0b6feb2670f9353a0962627dc663e4b5cd"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana HB 1453 (2021) — Judicial selection in Lake and St. Joseph counties.

Provides that the judicial nominating commission (commission) for the Lake and St. Joseph superior courts consists of seven voting members, with three voting members appointed by the governor and three voting members appointed by the county board of commissioners, and the chief justice of Indiana or the chief justice's designee serving ex officio as a voting member only to resolve tie votes and as chairperson of the commission. (Current law provides that the commission for the Lake superior court consists of nine members.) Provides that the governor must appoint to the commission one attorney member, one nonattorney member who has never been licensed to practice law, and one member that is a woman. Provides that the county board of commissioners must appoint to the commission one attorney member, one nonattorney member who has never been licensed to practice law, and one member that is from a minority group. Provides that the chairperson of the commission shall have standing to dispute the validity of an appointed member. Provides that a voting member of the commission for: (1) the Lake superior court shall reside in Lake County; and (2) the St. Joseph superior court shall reside in St. Joseph County. Provides that a voting member may not have a prior felony conviction. Repeals provisions concerning the appointment of nonattorney commissioners and the election of attorney commissioners to the commission. Provides that after the commission has nominated and submitted to the governor the names of five persons to fill a vacancy in the Lake or St. Joseph superior court, the governor shall select the most qualified person to fill the vacancy. (Current law provides that the commission for the Lake superior court nominate and submit to the governor the names of three people to fill a vacancy in the superior court.) Makes conforming changes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1453/versions/HB1453.04.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1453/versions/HB1453.05.ENRS)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1453/versions/HB1453.02.COMH)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1453/versions/HB1453.03.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/HB1453/versions/HB1453.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1453 - Aylesworth - 3rd Reading — **63–31** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Linda Rogers — primary (person)
- Mike Aylesworth — primary (person)
- Rick Niemeyer — primary (person)
- Harold Slager — coauthor (person)
- Jake Teshka — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-14** Coauthored by Representatives Teshka and Slager
- **2021-01-14** Authored by Representative Aylesworth
- **2021-01-14** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-02** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-04** Amendment #3 (Smith V) failed; Roll Call 66: yeas 22, nays 64 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-02-04** Amendment #1 (Smith V) failed; Roll Call 67: yeas 27, nays 62 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-02-04** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-08** Senate sponsors: Senators Niemeyer and Rogers
- **2021-02-08** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 90: yeas 63, nays 31 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-09** Referred to the Senate
- **2021-02-23** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-01** Amendment #11 (Niemeyer) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-01** Amendment #10 (Lanane) failed; Roll Call 303: yeas 15, nays 31 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-01** Amendment #6 (Randolph Lonnie M) failed; Roll Call 304: yeas 7, nays 40 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-01** Amendment #5 (Randolph Lonnie M) failed; Roll Call 305: yeas 4, nays 42 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-01** Amendment #4 (Randolph Lonnie M) failed; Roll Call 306: yeas 11, nays 35 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-01** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-04-05** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 339: yeas 34, nays 13 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-06** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-08** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-04-14** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 440: yeas 52, nays 35 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-16** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-04-23** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-29** Public Law 204
- **2021-04-29** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bac1b665-50f3-4d4d-aea4-ce1bce328899`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).