JudicialFinder
A state court of last resort / Established 1816

Supreme Court of Indiana

Indianapolis · A court of last resort in Indiana.

The Supreme Court of Indiana is the highest court in Indiana. Its justices are chosen by gubernatorial appointment from a nominating commission, followed by retention elections. This page lists every justice to serve on the court, current and former, with when they joined the bench and whom they succeeded.

104
Justices in history
5
Currently serving
Merit selection
Selection
10-yr
Term
Current justices
JusticeSince
Brent E. Dickson1986
Robert D. Rucker1999
Steven H. David2010
Mark S. Massa2012
Loretta H. Rush2012
Former justices
JusticeYears
Theodore R. Boehm1996–2010
Myra Consetta Selby1995–1999
Frank Sullivan Jr.1993–2012
Jon D. Krahulik1990–1993
Randall T. Shepard1985–2012
Alfred J. Pivarnik1977–1990
Dixon W. Prentice1971–1986
Richard M. Givan1969–1994
Roger O. DeBruler1968–1996
Donald H. Hunter1967–1985
David M. Lewis1967–1969
Donald R. Mote1967–1968
Frederick Eugene Rakestraw1966–1967
Walter Myers Jr.1963–1967
Amos W. Jackson1959–1971
Harold E. Achor1955–1966
Norman F. Arterburn1955–1977
George Washington Henley1955–1955
Frederick Landis1955–1965
Isadore E. Levine1955–1955
Dan C. Flanagan1953–1954
Arch N. Bobbitt1951–1963
Floyd Stanley Draper1951–1955
Paul G. Jasper1949–1953
James A. Emmert1947–1959
Frank E. Gilkison1945–1955
Oliver Starr1945–1951
Howard S. Young Sr.1945–1951
Martin J. O'Malley1943–1949
Frank N. Richman1941–1947
Hardses Nathan Swaim1939–1945
Curtis Grover Shake1938–1945
George Lee Tremain1934–1941
Michael Louis Fansler1933–1945
James Hughes1933–1939
Curtis William Roll1931–1943
Walter Emanuel Treanor1931–1938
Andrew Davison1930–1945
Clarence B. Martin1927–1933
Willard B. Gemmill1925–1931
Fred C. Gause1923–1925
Julius C. Travis1921–1933
Louis B. Ewbank1920–1927
Benjamin M. Willoughby1919–1931
Lawson M. Harvey1917–1920
Howard L. Townsend1917–1923
Moses B. Lairy1915–1921
Richard K. Erwin1913–1917
John W. Spencer1912–1919
Charles E. Cox1911–1917
Douglas J. Morris1911–1917
Oscar H. Montgomery1905–1911
John H. Gillett1902–1909
Francis Elisha Baker1899–1902
Alexander Dowling1899–1905
John V. Hadley1899–1911
James H. Jordan1895–1912
Leander J. Monks1895–1913
Joseph S. Dailey1893–1895
Leonard J. Hackney1893–1899
Timothy Howard1893–1899
James McCabe1893–1899
John D. Miller1891–1893
Robert W. McBride1890–1893
John G. Berkshire1889–1891
Silas D. Coffey1889–1895
Walter Olds1889–1893
Joseph A.S. Mitchell1885–1890
Edwin P. Hammond1883–1885
Allen Zollars1883–1889
William H. Coombs1882–1883
Byron K. Elliott1881–1883
William A. Woods1881–1883
John T. Scott1879–1881
William E. Niblack1877–1889
Horace P. Biddle1875–1881
Samuel H. Buskirk1871–1877
Alexander C. Downey1871–1877
Andrew L. Osborn1871–1875
John Pettit1870–1877
Jehu T. Elliott1865–1871
James S. Frazer1865–1871
Robert C. Gregory1865–1871
Charles A. Ray1865–1871
Lorenzo Worden1858–1882
James M. Hanna1857–1865
Samuel B. Gookins1855–1857
Alvin P. Hovey1854–1855
Addison L. Roache1853–1858
William Z. Stuart1853–1858
Thomas L. Smith1847–1853
Samuel E. Perkins1846–1879
Charles Dewey1836–1847
John T. McKinney1831–1837
Stephen C. Stevens1831–1837
Isaac Newton Blackford1817–1853
Jesse L. Holman1816–1830
John Johnson1816–1817
James Scott1816–1830

How a justice reaches this court. Justices of the Supreme Court of Indiana are appointed by the governor to 10-year terms and then face yes-or-no retention elections. A Judicial Nominating Commission sends nominees to the governor, who appoints; the justice then faces retention votes for 10-year terms. Selection methods vary by jurisdiction and have changed over time; this page reflects the court’s current method (source: National Center for State Courts). Open any justice to see their tenure and whom they succeeded.

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project; selection method from the National Center for State Courts. Data last verified 2026-06-30. Verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).