MADISON COUNTY — For certain, there will be a new Madison County Circuit Court Judge Division 5.
With longtime judge Tom Clem, a Democrat, not seeking re-election, there will be a change when voters go to the polls in November.
Kyle Noone is uncontested on the Democratic Party ballot in June 2’s primary election, and Scott Norrick and Jason Childers are vying to be on the Republican Party ballot in November.
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Norrick is a lifelong resident of Madison County and has been the Edgewood Town Court judge since being appointed by the Republican Party in 2007. He ran unsuccessfully in the 2018 Republican Primary against current Madison Circuit Court Division 3 Judge Andrew Hopper.
Along with being the Edgewood Judge, Norrick has been a family/criminal attorney since 2004. He was a probation officer and reserve deputy sheriff for Madison County from 1993 to 2003.
Norrick graduated from Anderson Highland High School in 1989. He graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from Anderson University in 1993 with degrees in Political Science and Criminal Justice. He received his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law in 2003.
He’s worked at the court since he was a high school student and has sat in as a judge pro tem for cases in Clem’s court.
“I believe I can make a difference in this county,” Norrick said. “I’ve lived here all my life. I know the people, issues, the problems.”
Norrick and his wife, Jodi, have been married 28 years and have five children.
He said the biggest issues in Madison County include: overcrowding in jails, drug abuse, the increase in sexual offenders, and limited resources for mental health and drug addiction.
Norrick’s goals, as outlined on his campaign website, are to find better ways to keep the community safe, uphold the law and hold criminals accountable, consider new approaches to modern problems and make decisions that take into account each individual.
Childers is putting his hat in the political ring for the first time.
For the past seven years, he has been a full-time judicial officer at the courthouse. He has been a magistrate for the court the past two years, handling overflow cases, including a bulk of the type of cases that he would see if elected.
Childers was formerly the Anderson City Attorney under former Mayor Kevin S. Smith.
A resident of Pendleton for the past 20 years, Childers graduated from high school in Corydon. He earned a degree in anthropology and political science with honors and in three and a half years from Purdue University. Childers obtained a law degree in 1999 from the Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee.
He and wife, Michelle, have been married for 22 years and have two children.
“I have been a judicial officer, and it is the natural next step (to be a judge),” Childers said. “I feel like my experience through the years makes me especially suited for the job.”
Childers said if elected, he would like to see the court change to where it will handle all levels of felony and criminal cases. Currently it does not conduct trials for all levels.
He would also like to continue and expand the veterans’ court, a special court that tries minor offenses that involve veterans, particularly those with service-related illnesses.
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Primary election day is Tuesday, June 2
Polls will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at polling stations
Early voting is taking place at Room 108 of the Madison County Courthouse, 16 E. Ninth St. Anderson. Remaining early voting hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, May 28; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 29; 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 30; and 8 a.m. to noon Monday, June 1,
Visit
madisoncounty.in.gov/election-board.html for more details
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