Three finalists chosen for next Indiana Supreme Court justice

The interior of the Indiana Supreme Court chambers at the Indiana Statehouse. The five justices chairs and desks sit in front of a red curtain, while plastic partitions put in place amid COVID-19 sit atop the front of the desk.
Brandon Smith
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IPB News
The governor will name the next Indiana Supreme Court justice from among three candidates chosen by the state's Judicial Nominating Commission.

The list of candidates to be the next Indiana Supreme Court justice is down to three.

The state’s Judicial Nominating Commission chose three finalists for the governor to choose from, after hours of interviews Tuesday.

The Judicial Nominating Commission is made up of the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, three non-attorneys chosen by the governor and three attorneys from around the state picked by fellow lawyers.

The commission narrows the group of applicants for the Supreme Court down to three that the governor then chooses from.

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The three candidates to replace retiring Justice Steven David are Justin Forkner, Dana Kenworthy and Derek Molter.

Forkner is the chief administrative officer for the Indiana Supreme Court. Kenworthy is a Grant County judge. And Molter is a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals.

The governor has about two months to name his choice.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.