Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWabash Superior Judge Christopher Goff has been selected as the 110th justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Monday.
Goff was selected from a pool of 20 applicants who interviewed in March and April with the court’s Judicial Nominating Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, for a seat on the high court. He will replace Justice Robert Rucker, who retired at age 70 a month ago after 26 years as an Indiana appellate judge.
Rush and the JNC sent three finalists’ names—Clark Circuit Judge Vicki Carmichael, Goff and Boone Superior Judge Matthew Kincaid—to Holcomb on April 26. The governor had a 60-day window to select Rucker’s replacement.
Goff, 45, is at least a decade younger than the other four justices. He became a judge at 33.
Prior to his judicial appointment, Goff was a partner at law firm Mills, Northrop & Goff in Huntington. He was also a public defender in Huntington County.
He received his undergraduate degree from Ball State University and his law degree from Indiana University's Maurer School of Law in Bloomington.
Rucker became only the second black justice on the court when he was named to the bench in 1999 by Gov. Frank O'Bannon. He was the court's only remaining Democratic appointee. All five current justices have been appointed since 2010 by Republican governors, and all of them are white.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.