HON. EARL G. PENROD

Judge Earl G. Penrod first took the bench on January 1, 1983 upon his election as judge of the Gibson County Court (Indiana), which became the Gibson Superior Court on January 1, 1985.   Judge Penrod received his B.A. degree as well as his J.D. degree from the University of Louisville and earned the Master of Judicial Studies (M.J.S.) degree from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2000.  He is also a graduate of the Indiana Judicial College and the Graduate Program for Indiana Judges.  In September of 2008, Judge Penrod became the first judge in the state to be awarded the Indiana Judicial College Masters Certificate.

 Judge Penrod served as chair of the Indiana Judicial Education Committee from 2002 until 2006 and periodically teaches for the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum, the Indiana Judicial Center and the Masters Program for the Indiana Judicial College.  He joined the faculty of The National Judicial College in 2003.

Judge Penrod has been an adjunct faculty member at Oakland City University for more than 25 years where he teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate level law-related courses.  He teaches for the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association and presently chairs the Traffic Court Committee for the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges and serves on the ABA/JD Committee on Judicial Evaluation.  Judge Penrod has served as a presenter for the National Association of Women Law Judges and the National Association of Administrative Law Judges and also has had recent teaching assignments in Hawaii, Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Utah and Nevada.

 Judge Penrod’s article “Judicial Education in Indiana: An Overview and a Proposal for Change” was published by the Valparaiso University Law Review in 2006 and his article: “The Guilty Plea Process in Indiana: A Proposal to Strengthen the Diminishing Factual Basis Requirement” was published in the Indiana Law Review in 2001.  

 In 2007, Judge Penrod was appointed by the Governor of Indiana to serve on the Law Enforcement Training Board, which oversees the education and training of all police officers in the State of Indiana.  In 2008, the Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court appointed Judge Penrod to chair the first ever Judicial Performance and Evaluation Task Force for the state of Indiana. 

Judge Penrod lives in Oakland City with his wife Brenda.