Indiana Supreme Court awards more than $232,000 in grants to counties

The Indiana Supreme Court has awarded $232,470 in grant money to 23 counties to support local family court projects. Since the Family Court project began in 1999, the Supreme Court had distributed more than $3 million in “seed money” to support family court projects.

The grants will focus on creating innovative programs that improve the court process for families. Priority was given to applications that emphasized access to justice for families without attorneys, alternative dispute resolution/early case management, and implementation of other programs that support families throughout the court process.  

The grants range between $2,000 and $30,000 and were awarded to:

•     Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., Lake County – $30,000
•     Magistrate Jason Reyome, Marion County IV-D Court –  $25,000
•     Judges Charles Pratt and Thomas Felts, Allen County – $23,270
•     Judge Thomas Alevizos, LaPorte County – $20,000
•     Judge Judith Stewart, Brown County – $15, 000 (shared with Jackson and Lawrence counties)
•     Judge Bruce MacTavish, Jackson County ¬– $15,000 (shared with Brown and Lawrence counties)
•     Judge Andrea McCord, Lawrence County – $15,000 (shared with Brown and Jackson counties)
•     Judge Cynthia Ayers, Marion County – $15,000
•     Judge Don Daniel, Tippecanoe County –  $12, 500
•     Judge Mary Margaret Lloyd, Daviess/Floyd/Pike/Vanderburgh/Vigo County –  $12,000
•     Judge Michael Reed, Kosciusko County –  $10,000
•     Judge Frances Hill, Monroe County –  $10, 000
•     Magistrate Ann Smith Mischler, Sullivan County –  $10,000                           
•     Judge Lori Thatcher Quillen, Owen County – $8,000                                      
•     Judge Lynne Ellis, Martin County –  $7,500                                          
•     Judge David Bonfiglio, Elkhart County –  $7,200                                              
•     Judge Jeffrey Meade, Gibson County –  $5,000                                                
•     Judge Dena Martin, Greene County –  $5,000                                      
•     Judge Paul Felix, Hamilton County  –  $5,000                                       
•     Judge Gary Smith, Jennings County –  $5,000                                       
•     Judge Michael Robbins, Lawrence County – $5,000                                        
•     Judge Bruce Stengel, Vermillion County – $2,000