Court launches search for successor; announcement expected soon
Fort Wayne, Ind. – After nearly 14 years on the bench and more than 20 years practicing law in Allen County, Allen Superior Court Magistrate Robert E. Ross will retire effective Feb. 29.
Ross has served as a judicial officer since 2002, when he was appointed as a Magistrate in the Allen Superior Court Misdemeanor and Traffic Division, located at the Charles “Bud” Meeks Justice Center, 101 E. Superior Street. Since February 2013, he has served as the Misdemeanor and Traffic Division’s senior Magistrate.
“The true hallmark of Bob Ross’ tenure on the bench has been fairness,” said Judge Frances C. Gull, Administrative Judge of the Allen Superior Court Criminal Division. “He has done a remarkable job balancing a high caseload with the need to make sure both sides of a case are heard every time. That is a remarkable talent and he will be missed.”
Magistrate Ross received his undergraduate degree in Business from Indiana University in 1974. Ross entered law school in 1975 and graduated from Indiana University School of Law (Indianapolis, now the McKinney School of Law) in 1978. His first job in the legal profession was as an associate attorney with the Donald Steininger Law Firm in Fort Wayne.
He later served with the firm of Beers, Mallers, Backs & Salin, as a solo practitioner and as a Deputy Allen County Prosecuting Attorney.
As a magistrate, Ross has handled thousands of cases each year dealing with traffic infractions, ordinance violations, animal care and control citations and miscellaneous criminal cases. Last year, more than 23,000 such filings were made in the Misdemeanor and Traffic Division.
During his tenure, Ross has also been involved in the project to move the Misdemeanor and Traffic Division from the Rousseau Centre to the Meeks Center, efforts to streamline customer service in the Meeks Center and with the Judicial Conference of Indiana’s Protection Order Committee.
‘The work we do in this division has a tremendous impact on people’s daily lives and on the safety and welfare of the community,” Ross said. “I have been blessed to work with some very dedicated people. It’s a good way to cap off a career.”
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