United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

• Court
• Judges

Southern District of Indiana Seventh Circuit Chief: Richard Young Judges: 5 Posts: 5 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Barker • Lawrence • Magnus-Stinson • Pratt Senior Judges McKinney Magistrate Judges Baker • Foster • Hussman • Lynch • Naville • McKee Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is a United States district court. It was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and southern. The Southern District headquartered out of Indianapolis, along with other divisions in Terre Haute¹, Evansville and New Albany. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Chicago at the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Courthouse and Building. The court has five judges, four full-time magistrate judges and two part-time magistrate judges.

Divisions of the Southern District

Indianapolis: Bartholomew County, Boone County, Brown County, Clinton County, Decatur County, Delaware County, Fayette County, Fountain County, Franklin County, Hamilton County, Hancock County, Hendricks County, Henry County, Howard County, Johnson County, Madison County, Marion County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Morgan County, Randolph County, Rush County, Shelby County, Tipton County, Union County and Wayne County.

Terre Haute: Clay County, Green County, Knox County, Owen County, Parke County, Putnam County, Sullivan County, Vermillion County and Vigo County.

Evansville: Daviess County, Dubois County, Gibson County, Martin County, Perry County, Pike County, Posey County, Spencer County, Vanderburgh County and Warrick County.

New Albany: Clark County, Crawford County, Dearborn County, Floyd County, Harrison County, Jackson County, Jefferson County, Jennings County, Lawrence County, Ohio County, Orange County, Ripley County, Scott County, Switzerland County and Washington County.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has zero vacancies out of their five posts. There are no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Southern District of Indiana (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Southern District of Indiana consists of all the following counties in the southern part of the state of Indiana. There are four court divisions, each covering the following counties: The Indianapolis Division, covering Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clinton, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Fountain, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Tipton, Union, and Wayne Counties. The Terre Haute Division, covering Clay, Greene, Knox, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo Counties. The Evansville Division, covering Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Martin, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties. The New Albany Division, covering Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Floyd, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Lawrence, Ohio, Orange, Ripley, Scott, Switzerland, and Washington Counties. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Chicago at the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Courthouse and Building.

Cases heard

The Southern District of Indiana has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	2308	2650	4958	2677	2281	11.1	9.8	102(4.9%)	14.8	17
2009	2519	2716	5235	2759	2476	11.4	9.4	109(5.1%)	2.9	18
2008	2340	2942	5282	2755	2527	9.9	9.2	195(8.3%)	6.2	24
2007	2587	2617	5204	2801	2403	10.2	9.9	119(5.4%)	.0	26
2006	2686	2920	5606	3026	2580	7.8	10.9	127(5.2%)	.0	24

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The Southern District of Indiana has four separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Evansville Division	U.S. District Court 304 Federal Building 101 Northwest MLK Boulevard Evansville, IN 47708	Phone:(812) 434-6410 Fax:(812) 434-6418
Indianapolis Division	U.S. District Court Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse 46 East Ohio Street, Room 105 Indianapolis, IN 46204	Phone:(317) 229-3700 Fax:(317) 229-3959 TTY:(317) 229-3973
New Albany Division	U.S. District Court Lee H. Hamilton Federal Building and United States Courthouse 121 West Spring Street New Albany, IN 47150	Phone:(812) 542-4510 Fax:(812) 542-4515
Terre Haute Division	U.S. District Court 921 Ohio Street Terre Haute, IN 47807	Phone:(812) 231-1840 Fax:(812) 231-1844

History

Court history

Indiana was established as one judicial district by Congress on March 3, 1817 with one post to cover the entire state. This district court was not assigned to a judicial circuit and was therefore granted the same jurisdiction as the United States circuit courts, excluding appeals and writs of error, which are the jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court.

On March 3, 1837, Statute 5 Stat. 176 allowed Congress to repeal the circuit court jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Indiana, and then assigned the district over to the Seventh Circuit. Congress again re-organized the circuits on January 28, 1863, and assigned the District of Indiana to the Eighth Circuit, and then again over to the Seventh Circuit on July 23, 1866.

Statute 45 Stat. 437 on April 21, 1928 divided the District of Indiana into two judicial districts known as the Northern District of Indiana and the Southern District of Indiana. A judgeship was assigned to each new district. Over time 4 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 5 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Southern District of Indiana:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
April 21, 1928	45 Stat. 437	1
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	2
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	3
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	4
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	5

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Justia.com-Dockets and Filings-Southern District of Indiana.

• Judge rules Indiana prisons' treatment of the mentally ill is cruel and unusual punishment  Judge(s):Tanya Walton Pratt      *Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission v. Indiana Dept. of Correction No. 08-01317

In December 2012, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled against the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) in regards to the State treatment of mentally ill inmates. IDOC has sometimes used solitary confinement in cases of mentally ill inmates, confining them to their cells for between 23 and 24 hours per day. This is a standard practice of the State in the case of any inmate deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, regardless of mental state. In her ruling, Judge Pratt found this practice to constitute cruel and unusual punishment in the case of mentally ill inmates, as they do not receive the minimally acceptable level of care in solitary confinement. Pratt also noted that such confinement often leads to an exacerbation of the mental illness, sometimes resulting in worsening condition, more violent outbursts, or increased suicide attempts. Perhaps most notably, Pratt's ruling called the practices of IDOC, "deliberately indifferent," noting that the department was aware of the issues with their care of the mentally ill, though they did little or nothing to correct the problem. This is not Pratt's first high profile ruling in Indiana. In 2011, Pratt issued the preliminary injunction that disallowed the state from partially defunding Planned Parenthood.

Federal courthouse

Four separate courthouses serve the Southern District of Indiana.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Indiana judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

External links

• United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana
• Judges of the Southern District of Indiana
• Official Website of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana
• Opinions of the Northern District of Indiana

References

Southern District of Indiana Seventh Circuit Chief: Richard Young Judges: 5 Posts: 5 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Barker • Lawrence • Magnus-Stinson • Pratt Senior Judges McKinney Magistrate Judges Baker • Foster • Hussman • Lynch • Naville • McKee Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Since the court was established, 13 Article III federal judges have served on it.

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has 5 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Richard Young. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Sarah Barker	1943	Mishawaka, IN	Reagan	3/14/1984 - Present	1994 - 2000	Cale Holder	Indiana U., B.S., 1965	American U., Washington College of Law, J.D., 1969
Chief Judge Richard Young	1953	Davenport, IA	Clinton	3/6/1998 - Present	2009 - Present	Gene Brooks	Drake U., B.A., 1975	George Mason U. School of Law, J.D., 1980
Judge William Lawrence	1947	Indianapolis, IN	W. Bush	6/30/2008 - Present		John Tinder	Indiana U., B.S., 1970	Indiana U. School of Law, J.D., 1973
Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson	1958	LaCrosse, WI	Obama	6/9/2010 - Present		Larry McKinney	Butler U., B.A., 1979	Indiana U. School of Law, J.D., 1983
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt	1959	Indianapolis, IN	Obama	6/15/2010 - Present		David Hamilton	Spelman College, B.A., 1981	Howard U. School of Law, J.D., 1984

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has 1 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Larry McKinney	Reagan	7/20/1987 - 7/4/2009	2001 - 2007	7/4/2009 - Present	MacMurray College, B.A., 1966	Indiana U. School of Law, J.D., 1969

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Tim Baker	2001 - Present	Indiana U., B.A., 1984	Valparaiso U. Law, J.D., 1989
Magistrate Judge (Recalled) Kennard P. Foster	1986 - 11/01/2002	Ball State U., 1966	Indiana U. Law, J.D., 1970
Magistrate Judge William G. Hussman	1988 - Present	Valparaiso U., B.A., 1972	Valparaiso U. Law, J.D., 1975
Magistrate Judge Michael Naville	1995 - Present	Indiana U., 1973	U. of Louisville Law, J.D., 1976
Magistrate Judge Craig McKee	2007 - Present	Indiana State U.	Indiana U. Law
Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch	10/24/2008 - Present	U. of Miami	Indiana U. Law
Magistrate Judge Denise LaRue	05/24/2011 - Present	Indiana U., B.S., 1980	Indiana U. Law, J.D., 1989
Magistrate Judge Mark Dinsmore	12/17/2010 - Present	Wabash College, A.B., 1983	U. of Toledo Law, J.D.

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
William Steckler	1954 - 1982
James Noland	1984 - 1986
Samuel Dillin	1982 - 1984
Gene Brooks	1987 - 1994
Larry McKinney	2001 - 2007
Sarah Barker	1994 - 2000
David Hamilton	2008 - 2009

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. David Hamilton
2. John Tinder
3. Robert Baltzell
4. Gene Brooks
5. Samuel Dillin
6. Cale Holder
7. James Noland
8. William Steckler