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, of Jasper, was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Mitch Daniels and took her seat on May 5, 2008.  A native of Ferdinand, Judge Brown has lived her entire life in southern Indiana.  She is the mother of two adult children.

Before joining the Court of Appeals, 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 2005 to 2008 and from 1987 to 1998.  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 was salutatorian of the class of 1972 at Forest Park High School in Ferdinand.  She earned a bachelors 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 a commitment to improving the lives of the citizens of Dubois County by addressing substance abuse issues of both 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, for 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 also served as president of the Dubois County Substance Abuse Council; for eight years in the 1990s, she served on the executive board of the Dubois Substance Abuse Task Force.  In 1997 and 1998, she volunteered with the Dubois County Reach-Out Suicide Prevention Committee.  And from 1989 to 1990, she served on the Committee for a Drug Free Jasper.

Since 1998, Judge Brown has been an Indiana Registered Civil Mediator with advanced training.  She graduated from the Indiana Judicial College in 1996.  She served for two years on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Judicial Conference and for two years 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.  Judge Brown is also a member of the National Association of Women Judges, the American Judges Association, and the Indiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. 

Judge Brown was active as leader in the Brook Inns of Court in Evansville and was an officer for four years of the Dubois County Bar Association, serving as president in 1985.  She is a member of the American Judicature Society, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and holds or has held memberships in the American, Indiana State, Dubois County and Evansville bar associations.  She served on the Family Law Study Committee of the Evansville Bar Association when she practiced law in that city.

Among her many 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 and the Dubois County Museum and is a life member of the Ferdinand Community Center.  She is a member of the St. Thomas More 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.  Judge Brown was the Vanderburgh County Representative for Senator Richard G. Lugar’s 2000 campaign.  In 1988, she was named Dubois County’s Outstanding Republican Woman.