(WSBT) Several police officers say the sentence for a teenager who killed a fellow officer was too lenient. Their solution: change the way some judges in St. Joseph County get their seats.

The Fraternal Order of Police plans to petition the state to make it so Superior Court judges in St. Joseph County are elected rather than appointed.

St. Joseph and Lake Counties are the only two in the state where judges are appointed.

“It’s happening everywhere else where people are getting what they deserve, but in St. Joe County they’re not getting what they deserve,” said Lt. Scott Ruszkowski, president of South Bend’s FOP No. 36.

Police officers expressed their frustration Wednesday after learning Jeff Finley would not spend life in prison.

Judge Roland Chamblee, Jr. sentenced Finley to 65 years for the murder and attempted robbery of Corporal Scott Severns.

Superior court judges in St. Joseph County, like Chamblee, are appointed. The Fraternal Order of Police believes that’s part of the problem.

“We have a lot of repeat offenders in this county,” explained FOP Board Member Detective James Walsh of the South Bend Police Department. “Elected judges are going to be responsible to the public just as an elected mayor or sheriff.”

St. Joseph County Prosecutor Mike Dvorak says it's something to look into. In Indiana, 90 counties have superior court judges who are elected.

“Some of them are partisan elections, meaning Democrats and Republicans, others are nonpartisan elections; in either event, there's a higher standard of accountability,” said Dvorak.

But St. Joseph County Superior Court Judge John Marnocha is concerned.

“I don't think judges ought to have that pressure to rule with this party or that party, or this group or that group. Our obligation is to apply the law fairly and justly and that ought to be our main obligation,” explained Marnocha.

He says judges in other counties do feel the pressure to change their sentencing come election time.

Marnocha says the answer may be to make it so sentences are uniform throughout the state.

Superior court judges in St. Joseph County are up for retention vote every six years, but no judge has ever been removed through that process in St. Joseph County.

The FOP now has to lobby the state legislature to make the change happen.

Democratic State Representative Craig Fry of Mishawaka told WSBT he’s interesting in offering his support. He said he's tried to get this changed before, but it failed. He also said it's the only way to make judges accountable.