Porter County Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper this week filed for candidacy
to keep her seat another term in the 2014 County elections.
Harper, a Republican, is currently in her twenty-ninth year on the bench,
having served as a judge at every level of the Indiana trial court system.
She previously served as a Porter County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and as
the Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Porter County. She is the first
woman to have held each of those positions in the history of Porter County.
Harper serves as supervising judge of the Porter County Family Court, which
is an original Family Court Pilot Project site in Indiana. Family Court
offers mediation and facilitation services and case tracking in family law
matters. At her direction, the Porter County juvenile justice system, which
Judge Harper oversees, has developed a Juvenile Mental Health Diversion
Program and a Truancy Diversion Program.
She also presides over the Porter County Juvenile Drug Court.
Currently, Harper serves on the Problem Solving Courts Committee of the
Indiana Judicial Conference which oversees certified problem solving courts
such as Veterans Courts and Drug Courts. She is a past chairperson of the
Indiana Juvenile Justice Improvement Committee.
In 2007 Governor Daniels appointed her to the Board of Trustees of the
Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. Judge Harper now chairs the Youth
Subcommittee of the Criminal Justice Institute and sits on the Executive
Board of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
Harper was appointed to the State Child Protection Task Force by Governor
Kernan in 2004. In addition, in Porter County, she chairs the Justice
Committee of the Mayor’s Commission Against Domestic Violence.
She serves on both the Executive Board and Steering Committee for Indiana’s
Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative. The Porter County Juvenile
Justice System is an active participant in JDAI.
Her many awards for her community and judicial service include the Aled P.
Davies Award for Public Policy on Health, the Indiana Correctional
Association has recognized Judge Harper as Judge of the Year, and the Robert
J. Kinsey Award for Outstanding Judicial Service and Support to the Children
and Youth of Indiana.
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