Charles Ray selected for new Vigo County magistrate post
Vigo County judges have appointed Charles Ray to the county's new magistrate position, Vigo Superior Court Division 1 Judge Charles Johnson said Monday.
Ray's start date will be July 1.
Ray's appointment came on the heels of passage of House Bill 1144 in May, which reduced or added a number of judicial posts based on county judges' work loads.
Vigo County was allowed to add one position, that of a magistrate of general jurisdiction.
'Prior to this bill, Vigo County had a juvenile court magistrate that was only able to handle juvenile issues such as Child In Need of Services cases and paternity cases,' Johnson said last month. 'With the addition of a general jurisdiction magistrate, we are able to provide relief to the court system by reallocating some of the case load from the juvenile magistrate to this new position.'
The magistrate will also be able to oversee criminal cases.
'The case load allocation plan is still being worked on by the judges, but we do feel that this new magistrate will be of a great help to the court system,' Johnson said.
Ray was born in Cincinnati and raised in West Terre Haute. He is a graduate of Wabash College and received his law degree from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law.
When Charles returned to Terre Haute, he joined the law firm of Cox, Zwerner, Gambill and Sullivan, representing clients in various civil matters.
After several years in practice, Charles was hired by the Vigo County Prosecutor's Office in May of 2017 and worked as a deputy prosecutor.
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