Judge Elaine Brown

Watch the 5/16/08 Robing Ceremony

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Judge Elaine Brown will formally join the Indiana Court of Appeals in a robing ceremony in the Supreme Court courtroom at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 16, 2008.  Chief Judge John G. Baker will preside.  Governor Mitch Daniels will join Judge Brown’s family, colleagues, and special guests to administer the oath of office at the ceremony, which will be followed by a reception.  Seating is by invitation, but the media is welcome to cover the event.

Judge Brown was named to the Court of Appeals by Governor Mitch Daniels.  She joins Judge Nancy H. Vaidik and Judge Margret G. Robb to complete the Court’s Fifth District, which draws a judge from each of the Court’s first three geographical districts.  Judge Brown is the Fifth District judge from southern Indiana and will stand for retention statewide. 

Judge Brown was a trial court judge for 15 years, as well as an attorney in private practice.  She served as judge of the Dubois Superior Court from 1987 to 1998 and again from 2005 to 2008.  In the years between her service 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.

A native of Ferdinand, Judge Brown was salutatorian of the class of 1972 at Forest Park High School.  She 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.

The Indiana Court of Appeals is the state’s second-highest court.  It reviews appeals from trial court decisions; a decision of the Indiana Court of Appeals is final unless granted further review by the Indiana Supreme Court.  The majority of appeals filed in Indiana are decided by the Court of Appeals.