Shields
A special ceremony honoring the first judge of Hamilton Superior Court No. 1, V. Sue Shields, will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the Hamilton County Historic Courthouse. The event is open to the public and will feature comments from Judge Sue Shields and Commissioner Steve Dillinger.
The Hamilton County Commissioners, who are playing host to the event, will unveil a plaque which shall permanently honor the numerous achievements of Judge Shields. The event was originally planned to take place during the Centennial Year of the 19th Amendment, but was postponed due to COVID.
Judge Shields was not only the first judge of the Hamilton Superior Court following its creation by the Indiana General Assembly, but she was the first woman judge elected to a court of general jurisdiction in the State of Indiana. That “first” was followed by her appointment as the first woman to serve on the Indiana Court of Appeals by then-Governor Otis Bowen. She capped off her judicial career by being the first woman Magistrate appointed in the Federal Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Judge Shields and her late husband Bill raised their family in Sheridan where they resided for many years. Bill Shields served as Sheridan Town Attorney for many of those years.