Mayor’s brother makes second round of Supreme Court interviews

The brother of Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop is among the 15 finalists scheduled for a second interview to help name a new Indiana Supreme Court Justice.

The Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) named fifteen finalists, including 59-years-old Mark Lienhoop, a LaPorte attorney, for the 109th Supreme Court judicial position. The JNC conducted public interviews of twenty-nine applicants last week. The second set of interviews with the JNC are scheduled for March.

In April, Justice Brent Dickson will retire from the five-member Supreme Court. According to the Indiana Constitution and state statute, the seven-member JNC must recruit and select candidates to fill the vacancy on the state’s highest court.

The JNC will interview the fifteen finalists March 3-4. The JNC will then publicly vote to send three nominees to the Governor who has 60 days to select Indiana’s next justice.