Darden retires, announces McKinney scholarship

Court of Appeals Judge Carr L. Darden will establish a scholarship in the name of himself and his wife of 57 years at his alma mater, the Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. The judge and other officials announced the scholarship Wednesday during his Statehouse retirement ceremony.

When fully endowed, The Judge Carr L. Darden and Mrs. Lundy Darden Public Sector Legal Education Scholarship will be awarded to McKinney students who have demonstrated an interest in state and local government and pursuing a career in public service. Details about the projected endowment and when the scholarship may be available were not immediately available Wednesday.

Darden said he hoped that the scholarship might in a small way help students from diverse backgrounds who want to use their legal education to serve the public. He told a packed Supreme Court gallery that each of them had encountered someone in their lives who extended a helping hand.

“We have to prepare the way for the next generation that will follow us,” said Darden, who upon turning 75 reached the statutory age of retirement for judges.

Darden said the scholarship would help defray some of the costs of law school for students who want to enter public fields of the profession that typically pay less than private practice. The scholarship also represented a way for him to give back.

“My wife and I have been given so much,” he said.

Marion Superior Judge David Shaheed said the Marion County Bar Association was a sponsor of the scholarship and would assist in raising money for it. The MCBA will host a fundraising dinner in Darden’s honor Sept. 14 at the downtown Indianapolis Marriott, 350 W. Maryland St.

Court of Appeals Chief Judge Margret Robb said Darden’s fellow judges on the court had made contributions to the scholarship fund as his parting gift from the court.

Robb also announced that the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Opportunity summer intern program that promotes diversity in the profession would henceforth be known as the Carr L. Darden CLEO summer intern program.

Darden, a former Marion Superior Court judge and chief deputy state public defender, was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Evan Bayh in 1994. He will continue to serve as a senior judge.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has until Aug. 11 to name Darden’s replacement from three candidates selected in June by the Judicial Nominating Commission. They are Marion Superior Judge Robert Altice Jr., public defender Patricia Caress McMath, and Madison Circuit Judge Rudolph Pyle III.