The Democratic candidate for Johnson County Circuit Court judge bills himself as the most experienced candidate for the job, with a range of experiences in all types of legal work.
The Republican candidate said voters should pick him because he has the most relevant type of experience, such as his work with felony cases, family law and cases that involve children who need services, to be a seamless fit in presiding over the court.
Republican Andrew Roesener and Democrat Steven Kennedy want the job of judge of Johnson County Circuit Court, which is a court that oversees serious, violent criminal cases and sentences drug dealers.
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Roesener works for circuit court now as the juvenile court magistrate, or appointed judge. He won the Republican primary in May, defeating Ryan Dillon. Kennedy works in a private firm primarily as a consumer collections attorney, representing banks and financial firms in cases across the state.
Longtime Judge Mark Loyd is not seeking re-election.
The new judge will help the county determine what to do about the overcrowded jail and how to curb and respond to the opioid epidemic that is claiming lives, causing crimes to be committed and prompting children to be removed from homes.
As the juvenile court magistrate, Roesener works as the appointed judge over the county’s juvenile court, overseeing cases such as guardianship of children or children who are accused of crimes. Loyd appointed him to the job more than three years ago.
Before that, Roesener worked as a private attorney in Franklin, including as a criminal defense attorney, and as a deputy prosecutor in both Marion and Johnson counties. He’s also worked doing fiscal analysis and helped draft legislation for the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency at the Indiana Statehouse.
He said his experience dealing with felony cases, family law and cases involving children made him the best candidate because he has practiced law extensively in those areas.
“My knowledge of the law distinguishes me,” Roesener said.
The concentration of his experiences over two decades lends itself well to the job, and Roesener would not have to take time to learn the laws that apply to the type of cases the circuit court judge would hear, he said.
Kennedy has been a lawyer for 40 years. His career has included being a legal research assistant for two federal judges, a hearing officer for the Indiana Department of Revenue, a criminal defense attorney and most recently as a consumer collections attorney. He said voters should pick him because he has twice the experience as Roesener in terms of years.
“I feel perfectly comfortable that I have the experience to do the job,” Kennedy said.
He’s always wanted to become a judge some day, and said he chose to run for office now because the timing is most favorable to Democrats seeking office.
He said he would be sensitive to the needs of the county’s growing minority population, but not offer any population special treatment. He would also bring to the office a criminal defense perspective, noting that many judges previously worked as prosecutors.
In addition, he also brings the perspective of being a victim of violent crime, as he and his wife were burgled when living in Marion County and his grandmother was the victim of a homicide.
“Crime and punishment are not abstractions to me,” Kennedy said.
The top issue facing the next judge will be how the legal system responds to and tries to curb the opioid epidemic, Roesener said.
Early intervention, using evidence-based practices, is key to helping people recover and break free from crime, but that intervention should start before a suspect’s criminal case is resolved, Roesener said. Such an approach will require a new model for the county.
For example, the next judge must be able to evaluate past treatments, the suspect’s support system in recovery and other issues affecting the person and family. Then, the judge must make the best choice for how to respond when a suspect misses an appointment in court or with a probation officer or fails a drug test, because people recovering from opioid addiction are prone to relapsing, Roesener said. The best model will include intervening early, being consistent, collecting evidence and data and making changes when supported by the data, Roesener said.
As judge, he would weigh the old methods of probation and jail with the path to possible success and recovery, but with consequences. When a suspect is a danger to themselves or others, they must go to jail, Roesener said. How to respond is the issue of the generation, he said.
Kennedy said if he is elected, he will study how to react to drug treatment and possession as well as the medical issue of addiction. He believes opioid addiction is a medical condition, but recognizes the human cost of the epidemic. If a suspect has not been violent or fraudulent, but committed theft to support an addiction, he might be inclined to look for treatment options for a first-time offender. But as judge, he would enforce the laws as they are written and work as a judge, not a legislator, he said.
The next judge will also have a say in the expansion of and services offered in the Johnson County jail, which has been overcrowded for years.
Roesener said he would advocate for more robust and better quality of services, because of the high percent of inmates who are addicted to drugs or are suffering from a mental illness, or both, and the conditions have become unmanageable.
If the taxpayers must spend the money to expand and operate a bigger jail, “let’s try to do it in a way that makes the community safer and makes life better for the men and women coming out of there,” Roesener said.
Kennedy said he would be in favor of expanding the jail and exploring alternatives to jail time for suspects, but that the top priority is making sure dangerous situations are avoided. He would not take a knee-jerk reaction and send people to jail without thinking about the decision, he said.
If elected, Kennedy said he would explore the idea of an independent public defender board to hire and oversee public defenders, rather than having them answer to the judges in the courts they are practicing in.
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Name: Andrew Roesener
Party: Republican
Residence: Franklin
Family: Wife, Asha; Two daughters
Occupation: Magistrate, Johnson County Juvenile Court
Educational background: Graduate of Brownsburg High School, Franklin College
Memberships: Indiana Judges’ Association
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Name: Steven Kennedy
Party: Democrat
Residence: Greenwood
Family: Wife Jean, one son
Occupation: Attorney at Jones & Kennedy, L.L.C.
Educational background: Southport High School, Ball State University, Indiana University McKinney School of Law
Memberships: Parishioner and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of the Greenwood, Johnson County Democratic Party
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