Floyd v. State

ON PETITIONS TO TRANSFER

SULLIVAN, Justice.

We address several issues concerning the authority of a court officer to enter a final appealable order and the way in which reviewing courts should handle challenges to such an officer's authority on appeal. In doing so, we comment on the failure of trial courts validly to appoint judges pro tempore and attempt to resolve several divisions that have emerged in the Court of Appeals.

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The Indiana Constitution requires that judicial acts be performed only by judges. Ind. Const. art. 7, § 1; State ex rel. Smith v. Starke Cir. Ct. (1981), 275 Ind. 483,…