Judge Russell W. Smith

Russell W. Smith, the son of Appellate Court judge Ralph Smith and with his father the only father and son to serve on the Appellate Court, was born in 1898 in Morrison, Illinois.  In 1901, his family moved to LaPorte.  He attended Indiana University for one year before joining the United States Army, serving during World War I.  Following his military service, he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan.  For two years following his graduation, he joined his father’s law office.

He was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1926 and served LaPorte and Starke counties in the General Assembly from 1927 to 1932.  He was also elected to the LaPorte Superior Court, serving from 1935 to 1943, and in 1950, he became the attorney for the Indiana Legislative Bureau.

In 1959, the Indiana General Assembly created two additional seats on the Appellate Court, for a total of eight.  On March 11, 1959, Governor Harold Handley appointed Judge Smith, a Democrat, and Judge John M. Ryan, a Republican, to fill the new seats, and they began their work five days later, on March 16th. 

Judge Smith served on the Court until 1961, then served as a director of the Indiana Public Service Commission and the Indiana Legislative Bureau.  In November 1964, he won election to Court and served a second term, from January 1, 1965 to December 31, 1968.  He was Chief Judge during the May 1966 term.  

Upon his departure from the Appellate bench, he was appointed to serve as the Appellate Court’s first Commissioner-Administrator in 1969.

He was a member of the LaPorte County, Indiana State and American bar associations, the Indiana Judges Association, Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity, and the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws.  He was also a member of the American Legion, Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity, and First Friends Church of Indianapolis.  He was the first president of the Indiana Young Democrats of LaPorte County and a past president of the Indianapolis branch of Torch Club International.

View the In Memoriam obituary for Judge Russell W. Smith
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