Judge L. Mark Bailey
(First District)

425 State House
Indianapolis, IN  46204
(317) 232-6897

L. Mark Bailey was raised in Decatur County on the family farm first homesteaded by his ancestors more than 150 years ago.  He was appointed to the Indiana Court of Appeals by Governor Frank O'Bannon in January of 1998 and was retained on the Court by election in 2000.  Before his appointment, Judge Bailey was a trial court judge, an administrative law judge, and a practicing attorney.  A husband and father, he earned his B.A. from the University of Indianapolis in 1978; his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis in 1982; and his M.B.A. from Indiana Wesleyan University in 1999.  He was elected judge of the Decatur County Court in 1991.  From 1992 until his appointment to the Court of Appeals, he served as judge of the Decatur Superior Court.  

During his legal career, Judge Bailey has served public interest and professional organizations in various capacities.  He chaired the Local Coordinating Council of the Governor's Task Force for a Drug-Free Indiana and the Judicial Conference Alternative Dispute Resolution committee, and he served on the Judicial Ethics Committee of the Indiana Judicial Center. Judge Bailey is Past-Chair of the Indiana Pro Bono Commission, having been awarded the Indiana Bar Foundation's Pro Bono Publico Award and the 2002 Randall Shepard Award for his pro bono contributions.  His writings include, “A New Generation for Pro Bono,” published in the Indiana Lawyer in 2006.  He is also a certified civil mediator and a Master in the Indianapolis American Inn of Court.  

A strong supporter of law-related education, Judge Bailey is currently a member of the Judicial Education Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana.  He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Indianapolis and, in February of 2006, served as the Distinguished Jurist in Residence at Stetson University College of Law.  In 2004, Judge Bailey and his First District colleagues received the Indiana Bar Foundation Law-Related Education Award for their commitment to bringing oral arguments into community settings.

Judge Bailey is also a frequent presenter at Indiana Continuing Legal Education seminars, and he regularly volunteers to judge law school trial advocacy and moot court competitions and to teach at National Institute of Trial Advocacy programs.  He also currently serves as the Moderator of the Indianapolis Bar Leadership Series.

In 2007, Judge Bailey, who chairs the Court’s Administration Committee, was named to another term on the Board of Managers of the Indiana Judges Association and was awarded a judicial scholarship for the two-year National Resource Judges' program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, to study ways to resolve complex cases involving intricate or novel scientific and technical evidence.