Judge Elaine Brown
(Fifth District)

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115 West Washington Street
Suite 1270 South Tower
Indianapolis, IN  46204
(317) 233-3672

Elaine B. Brown was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Mitch Daniels and took her seat on May 5, 2008. A Dubois County native, she is the mother of two adult children.

Before joining the Court of Appeals, Judge Brown was a trial court judge for over 15 years as well as an attorney in private practice for 11 years. She served as judge of the Dubois Superior Court from 1987 to 1998 and from 2005 to May, 2008. In the years between her tenure on the bench, she maintained a solo practice in Jasper and was a senior attorney with Fine & Hatfield in Evansville. Earlier in the 1980s, she practiced law with the firm of Thom & DeMotte in Jasper.

Judge Brown earned a bachelor's degree with distinction from Indiana University in 1976, and her J.D. from the IU School of Law in Bloomington in 1982. She was a teacher in the Greater Jasper Consolidated School Corporation for three years before she entered law school, teaching fine arts to students in grades K through 12.

A large part of Judge Brown’s professional focus during her years on the bench has been to improve the lives of the citizens of Dubois County by addressing substance abuse issues of individuals and families. In 2007, she initiated a new countywide alcohol and drug program and administered it through the Superior Court, a program similar to the Dubois Court Alcohol and Drug Services Program of which she was President from 1987 to 1992. In 2005, she created the county’s Drug Court. From 2006 until her elevation to the Court of Appeals, she served as President of the Dubois County Substance Abuse Council. In the 1990s, she was on the Executive Board of the Dubois County Substance Abuse Task Force, volunteered with the Dubois County Reach-Out Suicide Prevention Committee, and served on the Committee for a Drug Free Jasper.

Since 1998, Judge Brown has been an Indiana Registered Civil Mediator. She graduated from the Indiana Judicial College in 1996 and served on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Judicial Conference and on the Board of Managers of the Indiana Judges Association. She is a former member of the Indiana Supreme Court Character and Fitness Committee as well as the Judicial Administration Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Judge Brown was a Leader in the Brooks Inn of Court in Evansville and recently as a Bencher in the Sagamore Inn of Court in Indianapolis. She was an officer for four years of the Dubois County Bar Association, serving as President in 1985. She holds or has held memberships in the American Trial Lawyers Association, the National Association of Women Judges, the American Judges Association, the American Judicature Society, and the American, Indiana, Dubois County, Evansville, and Indianapolis bar associations. She served on the Family Law Study Committee of the Evansville Bar Association when she practiced law in that city. Judge Brown currently serves on the Judicial System Improvement Committee and the Attorney Fee Dispute Resolution Committee of the Indiana State Bar Association and on the Alternative Dispute Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference.

Among her various community activities, she served on the Scott School Improvement Committee and the North High School PTSA Executive Board. She supported the Restore Old Jasper Action Committee, the Dubois County Museum, is a life member of the Ferdinand Community Center, and is a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and of the St. Thomas Moore Society. A 1993 graduate of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series, she served on that organization’s Board of Governors from 1993 to 1998. In 1992, Judge Brown received the Outstanding Young Hoosier Award from the Indiana Jaycees, one year after the Jaycees presented her with a Distinguished Service Award.