Web Exclusive: Holcomb appointment leads to Marshall County’s first female judge

Inside the Marshall County Courthouse located in Plymouth, rows upon rows of previous judges’ portraits show a long history of only male judges. That was until Janette Surrisi. 

Surrisi is the first woman to serve as a judge in Marshall County in its 189 years. 

At the time of her appointment in July, she was already serving in the position as Judge Pro Tempore. 

“I would work my regular job and then come over here and fill in whenever I could, just to make sure that the docket kept going for the court,” Surrisi said. 

A call from Indianapolis came just as she was getting ready to go into a difficult hearing. 

“The hearing was so sad and so serious, I knew I wasn’t going to delay the hearing to take the call from Indianapolis. So I went into the hearing, held the hearing, and came back, and sure enough, it was a voicemail from Governor Holcomb himself,” Surrisi said. 

After playing a little bit of phone tag with the governor, Surrisi was informed she was appointed to the bench. 

A view from the bench

After almost three months on the circuit court bench, Surrisi said what’s been most surprising are the burdens litigants face. 

“What they’re up against, some truly hard conditions and situations that they’re trying to deal with in dignity while they’re still in court,” Surrisi said. 

At the moment she is interested in making sure the local Court Appointed Special Advocate Program is getting the support it needs. 

She said initial reports show the number of children in need of services is rising while the number of special advocates remains small. 

“I just want to make sure that we have appropriate volunteers in place that are excited, and always have new volunteers ready to go for these kids that are in need,” Surrisi said. 

As an attorney, she said she enjoyed advocating and fighting for her clients. As a judge, she said she enjoys being able to give people resolution. 

“It can’t always be the resolution that everyone wants, but you do get to give people final resolution to a lot of matters that have been undecided in their lives for quite some time,” Surrisi said. 

She said the court staff has been excellent to work with and helpful along with the other judges. 

“I think that they’re just all excited to have a new judge,” Surrisi said. 

Matthew Aldridge will be starting in Marshall Superior Court on Sept. 30 replacing Judge Dean Colvin who is retiring. 

In January Marshall Superior Court will see its first female judge as well. 

Tami Napier won the primary vote in May and is uncontested for the general election sealing her seat on the bench. 

She was also the first female chief deputy prosecutor in Marshall County and in Hancock County. 

“I’m really proud of that. I have two daughters and I have two granddaughters, and I think it’s important for them to see that,” Napier said. 

She appeared as a lawyer in Surrisi’s court just a few weeks ago. 

“It felt really good to have her up on the bench. She was as expected, extremely professional and all parties were heard, and she ruled well and articulated her reasoning that we all needed to hear,” Napier said.

She said she is excited to work with Surrisi. 

“She is very well respected in the legal community. She brings a unique perspective to circuit court and her enthusiasm and intelligence are going to serve our community very well,” Napier said. 

Finding the right fit

Surrisi took a less than traditional route to law school. She was a waitress, than a real estate agent and then in antique sales. 

She had her daughter Abby at 19 years old and has been married to her husband Sean for 27 years. 

“I did several different things before I landed on law, which really actually seems finally to be the right fit in my life,” Surrisi said. 

Hearing stories about her husband’s work as a lawyer piqued her interest in law. Looking at where she was in life she felt like she was in a place to make a career change. 

She told her husband she would study for the LSAT and if she got a good scholarship she would give it a try. She got a full scholarship to attend Valparaiso Law School and graduated in 2017. 

She said having a variety of life experiences before going to law school benefited her. 

“Once you know what mortgages are and you have lived through good and bad experiences in life, many things just aren’t new anymore, and you kind of can identify more easily with the problems and the advantages that you could have in a particular situation,” Surrisi said. 

Surrisi went to law school at the same time as her daughter Abby was in high school. 

Abby called her mother an inspiration. 

“It was kind of just the culture of working together and working hard. And it’s kind of interesting to be in that position with your parents,” Abby said. 

Abby works in marketing but isn’t ruling law school out. 

“It’s hard not to have it in the back of my head as something that I want to do in the future,” Abby said. 

Surrisi and her husband got to work together briefly at Wyland, Humphrey, Clevenger & Surrisi LLP before she was appointed to the bench. 

“She’s very, very smart and but always, always thoughtful and listens and kind of takes everything in before she has anything to say,” Sean said. “She’s a big-picture thinker, and that has led her to be able to work on some very interesting cases.”

Surrisi said she hopes people can look at her experiences and see that changing careers is possible and can lead somewhere good. 

“You can change what you’re doing, change where you want to go, and still get somewhere pretty great. You can put your past decisions kind of behind you and just move forward with whatever you want to do,” Surrisi said. “I’m really happy to be here.”