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Per-judge retention calls inside
The ballot
Indiana Court of Appeals judges are appointed by the governor and face a statewide yes-or-no retention vote at the first general election at least two years after appointment, and every 10 years after that. A majority of YES votes retains the judge for a 10-year term. The election is November 3, 2026. Three Court of Appeals judges are up — all appointed by Governor Eric Holcomb, all standing for their first retention vote. (No Indiana Supreme Court justice is up in 2026.)
Indiana has no state performance-evaluation commission, but it does have a published lawyer evaluation for this exact question: the Indiana State Bar Association's 2026 Judicial Retention Poll (surveyed September 1–30, 2026), in which the lawyers, judges, professors, and legal professionals who work with these judges answered yes or no on retention. All three judges cleared it by wide margins; the numbers are printed per judge below. The Indiana Supreme Court's Office of Judicial Administration also publishes each judge's biography, oral-argument videos, and written opinions at courts.in.gov/retention — voters do not have to take anyone's word for these records, including ours.
Judge Dana J. Kenworthy (Second District)
Appointed by: Governor Eric Holcomb, December 2022. ISBA retention poll: 91% YES — the strongest of the four Indiana judges on this year's ballot.
Credits: A first-generation college graduate from Amboy who worked her way through Ball State's Honors College and graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University McKinney School of Law in 2001. Nine years as a Grant County deputy prosecutor handling child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, computer-facilitated crimes, and juvenile cases. As Grant Superior Court 2 judge, she founded the Grant County Family Recovery Court in 2015 — rated among the best in Indiana and named in 2021 one of only eight Peer Learning Courts in the nation. Her appointment produced the first female majority in the Court of Appeals' history. She chairs the Youth Justice Oversight Committee and serves on the Commission on Improving the Status of Children. Honors include the Indiana Pro Bono Commission's Randall T. Shepard Award (2006) and an Outstanding Prosecutor Award from the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Dirt column: No misconduct, discipline, or adverse evaluation located in this research; the only number against her anywhere in the file is the 9% of ISBA respondents who voted no — a dissent share every judge in this guide carries in some size.
Judge Paul A. Felix (Fifth District)
Appointed by: Governor Eric Holcomb; service began July 28, 2023. ISBA retention poll: 86.5% YES.
Credits: The deepest trial-bench résumé of the three. Eleven years as a Johnson County deputy prosecuting attorney, where he created the county's first Domestic Violence Unit. Appointed to the Carmel City Court by Governor Mitch Daniels in 2007, then elected Hamilton Circuit Court judge in 2009 and re-elected there — 14 years on the circuit bench before elevation. On that bench he helped create the Youth Assistance Program, one of Indiana's only judicial programs aimed at preventing youth crime through mentors and tutors. He now chairs the Indiana Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative and co-chairs the Marion County Judicial Selection Committee, and serves on the State Board of Law Examiners' character-and-fitness committee.
Dirt column: No misconduct, discipline, or adverse evaluation located in this research; his 13.5% ISBA "no" share is the largest of the three appeals judges here and is printed, not hidden — it is still an 86.5% endorsement from the profession that practices before him.
Judge Mary A. DeBoer (Fourth District)
Appointed by: Governor Eric Holcomb, 2024 (selected to replace retiring Judge Patricia Riley). ISBA retention poll: 89.5% YES.
Credits: Western Michigan University (with honors) and Valparaiso Law (1993). Porter County deputy prosecutor, magistrate judge for eight years, then Porter County Circuit Court judge from 2019 — a general-jurisdiction trial bench running everything from malpractice to murder, plus oversight of the juvenile justice center. On that court she created two problem-solving courts — a truancy court and a transformation (mental-health) court — and presided over three problem-solving courts in total, led the Alternative Dispute Resolution program and the local Domestic Violence Committee. Governor Holcomb's appointment announcement called her "a person of immense integrity, intellect, and energy"; the ISBA poll number above is the profession's independent version of the same verdict. She serves on the Indiana Judges Association Board of Managers and chairs the Criminal Case Flow Management project.
Dirt column: No misconduct, discipline, or adverse evaluation located in this research (ISBA no share: 10.5%).
OUR CALL
Retain — all three: Dana J. Kenworthy, Paul A. Felix, and Mary A. DeBoer.
Our standard is the same in every state in this coverage: Retain for a serviceable documented record; Do Not Retain requires proven cause — documented misconduct, proven activist judging, or an evaluation failure. Indiana's evaluation is the ISBA retention poll, and these three passed it at 86.5–91% — not close calls. Behind the numbers sit three documented records built in prosecutors' offices and trial courtrooms, with named, verifiable institution-building (a nationally recognized family recovery court, a first-in-the-county domestic-violence unit, two new problem-solving courts) in the credits column and nothing proven in the dirt column. No organized campaign against any of the three appears in this research. First retention votes are where voters ratify an appointment; on this record, ratification is the honest call three times over.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- Indiana State Bar Association, October 5, 2026 — Bar members say 'yes' to judges up for retention (2026 Judicial Retention Poll: Kenworthy 91%, DeBoer 89.5%, Felix 86.5%) — https://www.inbar.org/news/736160/-Bar-members-say-yes-to-judges-up-for-retention-next-month.htm
- Indiana Judicial Branch — Judicial Retention (official biographies, oral arguments, opinions for all retention judges) — https://www.in.gov/courts/retention/
- Indiana Citizen / Mirror Indy / Statehouse File voter guide, October 2026 — Court of Appeals and Tax Court judges on the ballot for retention (per-judge records: Kenworthy recovery court and awards; Felix DV unit and Youth Assistance Program; DeBoer Porter County courts) — https://indianacitizen.org/voter-guide-court-of-appeals-and-tax-court-judges-are-on-the-ballot-for-retention/
- Evansville Courier & Press, October 22, 2026 — How judges on the ballot have ruled (all three appointed by Holcomb — DeBoer 2024, Felix 2023, Kenworthy 2022; first retention after two years) — https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/10/22/indiana-appeals-court-judges-on-ballot-in-vanderburgh-county/92216790007/
- Office of Governor Eric Holcomb, 2024 — Gov. Holcomb selects Judge Mary DeBoer to join Indiana Court of Appeals — https://events.in.gov/event/gov-holcomb-selects-judge-mary-deboer-to-join-indiana-court-of-appeals
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.