The Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance will host a Township Judge Candidate Forum from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Castleton United Methodist Church, 7101 Shadeland Ave. The free event is open to the public.
All nine Marion County small claims court judges are on the 2026 general election ballot, and all have been invited. Four judges have confirmed they will attend so far: Kim Bacon of Lawrence Township, Steven Poore of Washington Township, Garland Graves of Warren Township and A. Douglas Stephens of Pike Township. Retired Marion County Superior Court Judge Mark Jones will moderate.
The stakes are large. About 85 percent of eviction cases are filed in small claims courts, and 23,917 evictions were filed in Indianapolis over the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Princeton University's Eviction Lab and cited at the forum's announcement. Statewide, Indiana recorded 70,554 eviction filings in the same period.
Rabbi Aaron Spiegel, the alliance's executive director, said practices vary widely among the nine courts, with some judges giving tenants a couple of weeks to collect back rent or find a new home and others ordering residents to leave in three days. He called the judges the final stopgap between people staying in their homes and becoming homeless.
Only one race is contested: in Perry Township, Judge Cheryl Rivera, a Republican, faces Democratic challenger Jami Sayeed. The other eight judges are unopposed. Audience members will not ask questions during the forum; judges will answer the moderator's questions about the practices and procedures in their courts.
Small claims courts handle civil matters up to $10,000, including landlord-tenant disputes, personal injury and property damage cases, and parties do not have to hire an attorney.
