Marion County sheriff to run for open state Indiana Senate seat

Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal — who is term-limited — will run for the Senate District 31 seat in central Indiana.

“My neighbors in District 31 deserve to know that their voice in the State Senate will fight every single day to make their lives better — from bringing down the cost of utilities, healthcare, and groceries, to keeping our communities safe,” Forestal said in a Tuesday news release. “I’m the person to do just that.”

Sen. Kyle Walker, R-Lawrence, announced earlier this month that he will not seek a second term in the state Senate.

Senate District 31 is one of the state’s few politically close Senate districts, covering the northeastern corner of Indianapolis and the Fishers area in Hamilton County.

Forestal, a Democrat, is in the third year of his second term as sheriff. But he has been a law enforcement officer in Marion County since 1977.  In 2010, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Indiana, overseeing federal law enforcement across 62 counties.

If elected to the state Senate, Forestal said he would prioritize “pragmatic, values-driven leadership” on issues like public safety and protecting working families from rising costs — including utilities and health care.

Forestal has received some recent criticism for working with the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement and holding hundreds of detainees in the county jail.

As sheriff, he has advocated for a “common-sense approach” to public safety that addresses fundamental issues including mental health and addiction services in what many say is Indiana’s largest mental health facility – the Marion County Jail.

Forestal oversees the MCSO’s $150 million budget “with a focus on evidence-based violence prevention that keeps violent criminals behind bars while helping to ensure people can return to society as productive citizens after incarceration,” according to the news release.

The announcement also noted that the sheriff has been recognized for his office’s work on diversity and equity, and he was personally honored with the State Rep. Bill Crawford Legacy Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, in 2025.

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