[Southsider2k12]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-reg..._medium=twitter

INDIANAPOLIS | Chief Justice Randall Shepard announced Wednesday he will retire in March after 25 years as the state's top jurist and 27 years of service on the Indiana Supreme Court.

Shepard, 65, was appointed to Indiana's highest court in 1985 by Republican Gov. Robert Orr. Two years later -- at age 38 -- he was named chief justice.

Hoosiers have voted to retain the Evansville native on the court three times, most recently in 2008 when Shepard received the highest number of "yes" votes ever recorded for a judicial retention.

Shepard wrote nearly 900 civil and criminal opinions during his years on the Indiana Supreme Court.

He is also the co-author, along with former Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, of the 2007 Kernan-Shepard Report that recommended eliminating township government and other reforms to streamline and reduce the expense of local government in Indiana.

As head of the state's court system, Shepard embraced technology to make court records and court proceedings more accessible to the public, encouraged the development of "plain English" jury instructions and recently worked with state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, to help Hoosiers work with their lenders to prevent home foreclosures.

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said it won't be easy to find a replacement of the same quality as Shepard.

"Most Hoosiers recognize the historic place Randy Shepard will always hold in Indiana judicial history," Daniels said. "What fewer people may know is there is no more nationally respected Supreme Court judge in any state in America, and this has been so for a very long time."

The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission will solicit applications and interview candidates to replace Shepard in February. Daniels will select the new justice from among the three candidates recommended by the commission.

The commission also will decide whether the new justice or one of the other four Indiana Supreme Court justices will become chief justice.

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