Prosecuting Attorney

The basics

Term

4 years; elected in 2026, 2030 and every four years. ^[5]

Term limit

None. ^[4]

Who may stand

Admitted to the practice of law in Indiana before the election; registered to vote in the circuit; statement of economic interests filed with the courts. ^[6]

On the 2026 ballot

92 races in Indiana

What the law puts in this job

• Conducts all prosecutions for felonies, misdemeanors and infractions in the circuit, and superintends suits in which the county is interested. ^[2]
• Runs the IV-D child support enforcement program locally, with support from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. ^[3]
• Must take steps to notify crime victims (HEA 1250-2026, per digest) and keep a Giglio list of officers with credibility issues (IC 33-39-12, P.L.93-2025). ^[4]

What the officeholder decides

• Charging and plea policies that drive the jail population and court caseload (felony filings by county are published by the Indiana Office of Court Services). ^{[12, 1]}
• If Public Question 1 (bail) passes, whether and when to ask courts to deny bail on a showing by clear and convincing evidence. ^[13]
• Staffing and pay of deputy prosecutors amid a reported attorney shortage; county budget requests to the council each August. ^{[10, 14]}
• Pretrial diversion and problem-solving court participation. ^[12]

Who the officeholder answers to

• Voters; the Indiana Supreme Court (attorney discipline); since July 2025 a five-member Prosecutor Review Board can investigate a prosecutor who publicly declares a categorical refusal to prosecute a law and report findings. ^{[11, 4]}
• The county council controls the office's county-funded budget and staff positions. ^[8]

What it pays, and who sets that

• The state pays the minimum salary: a full-time prosecutor gets the circuit judge minimum (reported at $183,513 for 2024); others get 60% (66% in listed circuits). The state also pays 75% of the chief deputy. A county may add up to $5,000. ^{[7, 8, 9, 10]}
• County supplement (usually $5,000 where budgeted); deputies, investigators and staff are paid by the county council.
• In the 31 of 92 counties where a salary line could be identified in the 2026 budget, elected-official pay lines ran from $400 to $7,718 (median $5,000). From county budget lines; verify against each county's salary ordinance. ^[1]

Questions worth asking a candidate

Ours, not a questionnaire anyone answered. They come from what the job actually involves.

• How do you decide which cases to file, divert or dismiss? Will you publish office charging data?
• How many deputy prosecutors does the office need, and how would you recruit and keep them?
• How will you work with the sheriff, judges and public defenders on jail crowding?
• How will you keep victims informed?

What we could not find

• The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council does not appear to publish county caseloads; court filings (IOCS) are used as a proxy.

Sources

Office research by Legal Insights (Oct. 13, 2026): Indiana Code 2026 edition, state agencies and county budgets. Nothing here rates an officeholder or candidate.