Aric Rutkowski Removed

Aric Rutkowski, a former magistrate on the St. Joseph Probate Court in Indiana who handled child support enforcement cases, self-reported a personal relationship with Sarah Troyer, a deputy prosecuting attorney who regularly appeared before him representing the state on behalf of custodial parents trying to collect delinquent child support. Rutkowski told prosecutors the relationship began in June 2021; Troyer resigned in November 2022, telling her supervisor she believed it was the best professional decision. Rutkowski self-reported the relationship and resigned from the bench on May 29, 2025. Because Rutkowski had presided over cases in which his own romantic partner was the prosecuting attorney, the St. Joseph Probate Court notified 862 litigants whose cases he handled between June 2021 and December 2022 that they may have grounds to seek further review of their outcomes.