Judge Steven Nation announced he will not seek a fifth term on this year’s May ballot, the first time in 40 years his name will not appear.
According to a press release, Nation was elected judge in 1995 and is finishing his fourth term. He began his career as Hamilton County deputy prosecutor and was elected Hamilton County prosecutor in 1979 and served four terms.
The 68-year-old said he plans to invest time in community involvement.
“It’s a six-year term, and I have 3,000 pending cases, and I’m involved in a lot of other efforts in the community,” Nation said. “I felt like to go ahead and maintain the level of involvement I want in my cases and the extracurricular activities, there was no way I could do it for the full six years, and if I couldn’t give 100 percent to the people, I felt like I shouldn’t be running for another term.”
Nation is heavily involved in the Hamilton County Youth Assistance Program and creating a mentors group for inmates at the Hamilton County Jail. He also is involved in other organizations.
Nation said he will miss helping people find resolutions.
“I think what I have enjoyed about whether I was prosecutor or deputy prosecutor or the judge was I always felt like I was involved in situations where people needed a resolution,” he said. “I enjoyed trying to resolve problems for people, though sometimes in criminal settings they didn’t like the way I resolved them, but I enjoyed the ability to help people, and I think that’s what I am going to miss the most.”
For more, visit hamiltoncounty.in.gov.
