(Fifth District)
115 West Washington Street
Suite 1080 South Tower
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-3672
Elaine B. Brown was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Mitch Daniels in May 2008 and was retained by statewide vote in 2010 and 2020. Before joining the Court, she was a trial court judge for over 15 years and practiced law for 11 years. She is the recipient of the 2020 Indiana Lawyer Distinguished Barrister Award, an adjunct faculty member of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, a member of the Maurer School of Law Alumni Board, a 1996 graduate of the Indiana Judicial College, a 2012 graduate of the Indiana Graduate Program for Judges, and a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She is also the Presiding Judge of the Fifth District of the Court of Appeals.
Judge Brown served as judge of the Dubois Superior Court from 1987 to 1998 and from January, 2005 to May, 2008. In the years before and between her tenure on the bench, she practiced law in Jasper and in Evansville, first as an associate, then as a senior litigator, and last as a solo practitioner.
Judge Brown earned a bachelor’s degree With Distinction from Indiana University in Bloomington, and her J.D. from the IU (now Maurer) School of Law in 1982. She was a teacher in the Jasper School Corporation for three years before entering law school.
A large part of her professional focus during her years on the trial court bench was on substance abuse issues. She initiated a countywide Alcohol and Drug program, created the Dubois County Drug Court, formed the county’s first Community Corrections Advisory Board, which oversees all work release, home detention, and community service programs, and served as President of the Dubois County Substance Abuse Council.
Judge Brown currently serves on the Youth First School and Government Committee, the ISBA Judicial System Improvement Committee, the ISBA Attorney Fee Dispute Resolution Committee, the ISBA House of Delegates, and on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference. She is a life member of the IU Alumnae Association, and, in honor of her father, is a longtime member of the American Legion Auxiliary.
Since 1998, Judge Brown has been an Indiana Registered Civil Mediator. She served on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Judicial Conference and on the Board of Managers of the Indiana Judges Association. She is a former member of the ISBA Mentor Match Volunteer Program, the Indiana Supreme Court Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program Committee, the Indiana Supreme Court Character and Fitness Committee, as well as the Judicial Administration Committee and the Appointed Judicial Officers Task Force of the Indiana Judicial Conference. She was a Leader in the Brooks Inn of Court in Evansville and a Bencher in the Sagamore Inn of Court in Indianapolis. She was an officer for four years of the Dubois County Bar Association, serving as President in 1985.
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 its Distinguished Service Award.
A Dubois County native, she is the proud mother of two children, a school principal and a physician- graduate of the IU School of Medicine; mother-in-law to an engineer and another physician- graduate of the IU School of Medicine; and a very involved grandmother of three little girls and one grandson.