Editor’s note: With the upcoming primary election, the Times-Union is running a story each day about a Republican candidate for judge of Kosciusko Superior Court III, in alphabetical order. This is the third in the four stories.

In January, Karin McGrath, 56, announced her candidacy for judge of Kosciusko Superior Court III.

She’s up against Republicans Rob Bishop, Lindsey Grossnickle and Chad Miner. Judge Joe Sutton is leaving the bench after more than 20 years. Superior III’s docket ranges from felony criminal cases to civil litigation.

McGrath is a former Kosciusko County deputy prosecuting attorney and currently practices civil and criminal law at Rockhill, Pinnick in Warsaw. In her daily work, she represents clients in a variety of areas that include civil matters, family law, estate planning, zoning and land use, landlord/tenant issues and criminal defense.

McGrath has lived in Warsaw for more than 20 years with her husband, Keith, and their two children. McGrath’s story of becoming a lawyer might not be your typical tale, but she’s proud of raising her children and of her work for nearly a decade, earning the respect of her colleagues.

When McGrath’s children were in school, McGrath was a stay-at-home mom and spent part of her time substitute teaching at Warsaw Community Schools.

“I think any stay-at-home mom can tell you it’s not just frills and bon bons,” she quipped. “I went to law school when I was 42. I had plenty of people who were trying to discourage me from that, but my kids were reaching their teenage years so that’s when I decided it’s time to go back. I actually remember having a conversation with my mom at one point saying it was a great thought about going to law school but my goodness, mom, you realize I’ll be like 50 before I’m a lawyer. And she said you gotta decide what’s right for you, but I’ll tell you this: You’re gonna wake up some morning and you’re gonna be 50, and you’ll be a 50-year-old lawyer or a 50-year-old non-lawyer.”

Moving away to some beach and picking up shells all day isn’t the way she’s wired, she said. So she went to law school.

McGrath graduated from the Valparaiso University School of Law, and after her admission to the Indiana State Bar she began working as the deputy prosecuting attorney in Kosciusko County, where she worked for more than seven years.

“When I got into law school, I didn’t have a notion that my be-all, end-all pinnacle of my career was going to be sitting as judge,” she said. “My goal, my drive when I became a lawyer was to be the very best lawyer I could be, wherever I was planted, whatever it was that I was charged with doing.”

She said helping people resolve conflicts in their life is what brings her satisfaction in her work.

“To be able to help people who are in the midst of really ugly contentious battles find resolutions and finality to these issues that are, quite frankly, paralyzing to our lives when you have that ongoing litigation,” McGrath said. “It becomes oppressive and it’s like a black cloud times 10 just weighing on you because it’s unresolved conflict. The really attractive thing of being a judge for me is playing that role of helping resolve that conflict. There’s plenty of mediating in my career but a judge is also employing the law of Indiana, and I’m just so in love with our law.”

McGrath said she believes in doing what the law says, giving everyone in the courtroom a chance to be heard and coming to a resolution that is fair and can help people move forward productively.

“Whatever the decision is, it gives them the wings and the ability to now move forward,” she said.

McGrath also thinks looking at ways teleconferences could be utilized to help speed up some of Superior Court III’s cases would be beneficial. Because she has worked in all of Kosciusko County criminal courts, she said she can use that experience to see what ideas or organization techniques work well and then maybe use them effectively in Superior III.

If elected, McGrath would be the first woman judge in Kosciusko County courts. What does she think about that?

“I’m running because I’m qualified and because I think I’d be a really good judge. I feel like I’m right for that position and that’s why I’m running, and I happen to be a woman, too,” she said.

She thinks Kosciusko County is ready for that type of diversity and said she’s received enormous support that she’s grateful for. However, not everyone who crosses her path is ready for a woman to take the bench.

“It was literally last week, I was walking not a block from the courthouse and an older gentlemen drove by in a car, and I?mean our eyes locked and he stuck his hand out the window and made a gesture, and it wasn’t the thumbs up gesture, and in my mind I thought either wow, I’m guessing he doesn’t like the idea of a woman judge or maybe he’s supporting another candidate, so not everybody loves the idea of a woman on the bench, and that’s OK,” she said. “I’ve had a few hateful little troll comments on Facebook where someone says to the effect of there’s only one thing a woman is good for, but by and large, I feel like people are so affirming.”

McGrath knows she doesn’t have the longest time in the game compared to her opponents, but she doesn’t think that matters because it boils down to in-court experience.

“I’ve been wholly invested in the Kosciusko County justice system for almost my going on 10 years,” she said. “Between the years at the prosecutor’s office and really getting just a wide range of experiences and knowledge and the variety of cases I’ve been able to prosecute, the variety of cases I now defend, it’s the hands-on experience in that very courtroom.

“I have served as judge pro tem in all Superior courts, but beyond sitting on the bench for a day to help out the judge, I’m talking about sitting in the courtroom all day long prosecuting cases or during jury trials. There’s some really critical pretrial things that happen when you’re moving into a jury trial process and when you’re meeting with the judge about what the jury’s going to hear. Those decisions are critical. I think my experience is good experience to help make decisions about those issues, with ultimately the goal is once we get to a verdict it’s upheld, it’s final, we’re not gonna have to do it all over again. I think there’s a lot of value to that,” she said.