Court Opinion

ID: 9739083
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:08:31.128378+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:09.937901
License: Public Domain

BUCHANAN, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent to the dismissal of this appeal.
The record reflects that Jay Haggerty heard this case as Master Commissioner, but at different parts of the record he appears as "Judge," "Committing Judge," and "Special Judge." So it is uncertain whether the judgment was entered by a duly authorized judicial officer. Record at 149, 163, 168.
This court has, on numerous occasions, suspended consideration of an appeal taken from a Master Commissioner's ruling and ordered the judge of the trial court to enter final judgment on the case. See Woodfork v. State (1992), Ind.App., 594 N.E.2d 468; Green v. State (1989), Ind.App., 540 N.E.2d 130; Eakins v. State (1985), Ind.App., 482 N.E.2d 1157; Ingmire v. Butts (1974), 160 Ind.App. 575, 312 N.E.2d 885.
In the interest of judicial economy and the avoidance of unnecessary expense, this case should be remanded to the trial court with instructions that an appealable final judgment be entered so that this appeal may proceed without having to be commenced over again.