Porter County Superior Court Judge David Chidester has announced that he will run for re-election to his division 4 judge post this year.

In his announcement, Chidester cited a number of accomplishments since he took office in 2003. They include decreasing the filings of probation violations, carrying out a promise to give every small claims litigant a written explanation of his decision, hosting small claims courts in nearly every high school in Porter County, implementing a new pretrial supervision program, working toward the passage of legislation forcing defendants to pay for pre-trial supervision, and helping to revamp and restructure the county’s alcohol education program that’s now operated by Prisoners and Community Together.

Chidester said that he also helped develop a community service litter pick-up program for defendants and took away the driving privileges to and from school for a number of high school traffic violators by ordering them to take the school bus.

Chidester also said he was among a few office holders who cut their 2008 budget from the ‘07 total and that he has donated more than $2,000 in proceeds from performing weddings to various Porter County charities, including the Porter County Animal Shelter and the Visiting Nurses Association.

Posted 1/7/2008