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Embattled judge files petition
Indiana Lawyer (Indianapolis, IN)
August 25, 2004
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/10E9B8F991322538?p=AWNB
Lake Superior Court Judge Joan Kouros filed an Aug. 13 Petition for Review in answer to charges brought by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications regarding Kouros' job performance.
Kouros had a hearing April 22 before a three-judge masters' panel, which consisted of Marion Superior Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, Allen Superior Judge John Surbeck Jr., and Vanderburgh Circuit Judge Carl Heldt. The panel recommended that Kouros not be disbarred, but made no recommendation as to her discipline, removal, or retirement.
At the recommendation of the commission, Kouros was suspended pending disposition of the disciplinary proceeding by the Indiana Supreme Court.
Her Aug. 13 petition says the commission's characterization of her case is unfair. Judge Kouros had certified on March 4, 2003, that she was following the minimum standards of the court's Jan. 17 order regarding the flow of paperwork through her office, among other things.
The commission found that this certification was false.
In her petition, Kouros, asserts she "has been in substantial compliance" with the court's order.
"The fact that Judge Kouros has been in substantial compliance, rather than full compliance with the Court's Order, is not altogether her fault," the petition reads.
Kouros goes on to explain that she did not have adequate secretarial support for portions of the time during which the commission examined her office.
Her longtime secretary retired, but she was maintained on the payroll because she was owed vacation and could not be replaced until she was removed from the payroll, Kouros said.
When a new secretary started a month later, she was not experienced in the court system and needed to be brought up to speed with the system and the volume of work that goes through the court.
The petition also answers several objections the commission made to the masters' report, and agreed with the masters' findings that Kouros had not committed willful misconduct, and addressed several other objections the commission had made.
"Since her return, the judge had made an earnest effort to comply with the Order of the Indiana Supreme Court," the petition reads.
In a brief in support of the position, the judge's attorneys, Kevin McGoff and Stanley Jablonski, argued that Kouros should not be removed from the bench, citing case law from other jurisdictions with similar fact patterns in which judges have received less serious sanctions.
They reiterated the positive steps Kouros has taken, including attending conferences, visiting other judges, and increasing administrative efficiencies in her office, and again noted that Kouros had substantially complied with the court's order. From this point, the high court will make a determination as to what, if any, sanctions will be imposed against the judge.
