Magistrate Judge Baker appointed to federal board

United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has appointed Magistrate Judge Tim Baker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to the board of directors of the Federal Judicial Center, making him the only magistrate judge to hold a board position.

Baker’s appointment to the FJC board was announced Tuesday. The magistrate judge began his work with the FJC in 2008 when Roberts appointed him to the Magistrate Judge Education Committee. Baker was then promoted to a three-year term as chair of the committee in 2011.

Now, as a member of the FJC board, which Roberts chairs, Baker will be tasked with helping to select the director and deputy director of the center, which serves as the research and education agency of the federal judiciary.

“I am greatly humbled by the appointment,” Baker said in a statement Tuesday. “I look forward to continuing my service to the federal judiciary as a member of the FJC Board.”

Aside from his work at the federal level, Baker has also served as chair of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Federal Judicial Committee and received presidential citations in 2007 and 2009 for his work with the ISBA. Additionally, Baker has been heavily involved with the Indianapolis Bar Association, serving on its Board of Managers and receiving the Dr. John Morton Finney Jr. Award for Excellence in Legal Education.

“Our court is very proud, though not surprised, that Chief Justice Roberts has chosen Judge Baker as the magistrate judge representative to the FJC Board,” Southern District Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson said in a statement. “Judge Baker’s commitment to judicial education is exemplary and unwavering.”