Our Call to Beneficence
Our Call to Beneficence
S4E7: A Trailblazer in Public Service Devotes Her Career to Advocacy and the Law | (Dana Kenworthy, Judge for the Indiana Court of Appeals)
Dana Kenworthy has dedicated her professional career to serving the people of Indiana—in particular those who have been victims of abuse and neglect.
Currently, she serves as a judge for the second circuit of the Indiana Court of Appeals, which is the second-highest court in the state. But prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Kenworthy served as deputy prosecutor in Grant County, where she concentrated on cases primarily involving child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. She then served as a trial judge for 12 years—from 2010 to 2022—before her appointment to the Court of Appeals.
Throughout her life, Judge Kenworthy has been guided by the saying “If you see something wrong, fix it.” She’s applied this rule—one championed by her mother, her role model—to affect change on behalf of everyday Hoosiers. In recognition of her public service, pro bono work, and volunteer efforts, she has received the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Outstanding Prosecutor Award and the Indiana Pro Bono Commission’s Randall T. Shepard Award.
In this episode, Judge Kenworthy talks about her passion for justice and how our University’s enduring values, embodied by Beneficence, have inspired her throughout her life.
If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Hello and welcome back to our Call to Beneficence. My guest on the podcast today is a Ball State graduate who has dedicated her entire career to public service. Judge Dana Kenworthy serves as a judge for the Second Circuit of the Indiana Court of Appeals, which is the second highest court in the state. Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Kenworthy served as a deputy prosecutor in Grant County, where she concentrated on cases primarily involving child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
She then served as a trial judge in Grant Superior Court for 12 years, from 2010 to 2022, before her appointment to the Court of Appeals. During our conversation today, I'm going to ask Judge Kenworthy about her passion for justice and how as, how as both a lawyer and a judge, she's made a meaningful impact on the citizens of her home state.
But first, I want to learn about how her undergraduate experience at Ball State prepared her for her fulfilling career and inspired her to lead such a meaningful life—a life in service to other people. So, Judge Kenworthy, welcome and thank you for returning to your alma mater to join me in the studio today.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
It's an honor to be here.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Thank you. So I understand you were raised in a small town in Indiana—in Amboy, Indiana. In preparing for the conversation, I understand the population at that time was around just 300 people. So tell our folks: Where is Amboy? And what do you recall about growing up in a small town in Indiana?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, Amboy is in the northeastern part of the state, near the town of Peru. So we’re right on Highway 19. And as you drive through Amboy, you won't find a stoplight or a stop sign. We did get a pop machine when I was in junior high. That was big news for us—
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Big news for you.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
There's also a small town grocery store called Amboy Market, where my mother worked and I worked for three years in high school. So they're known for their deli and their wonderful baked goods. It’s still there if you want to stop in.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
You're doing a little plug here—
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I am, yes. I have three older brothers, so a lot of my childhood was spent showing them that I could keep up with them. Um, and we spent a lot of time outside in our bare feet running around, finding things to get into.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And you said your mother worked at the store.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
She did.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
She worked in there full time while she was raising you and your brothers?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
She did. She worked six days a week—a couple of those days a week were half. So she had half days with us in the summer. And then she was off on Sunday. She gave the children's sermon at church every Sunday, so she was a very busy lady.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So pretty much that quintessential small town upbringing.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Very much so.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Do you remember it fondly?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I do, yes. And we were fortunate to live next door to my grandparents as well. So my grandparents babysat for us as well as my cousins. So there were always people to play with and things to do outside.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Probably large Sunday afternoon dinners.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Absolutely.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So what kind of a student—you talked about keeping up with your brothers. What kind of a student were you in in school? And I'm guessing, given your career, you were pretty studious as a young woman.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I was always studious from a young age. I always loved reading. Maybe that's because my brothers outvoted me when it came to television shows. So I found something else to do while they watched their choice of TV. And so, my mom fostered that love of reading and that love of learning. She took me to the public library in Converse—Amboy didn't have one—so she drove me to the next town over, and we picked up a new bag of books every week for me to read during the summer. And my elementary school librarian also fostered that. And I recall her, as plain as day, taking me by the hand and taking me to a particular shelf in the elementary library, and I had a whole series on women leaders. And so I read that whole series.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And was that a source of inspiration for you even at a young age?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
It was for me. I was in a small town, but my horizons were bigger because they both showed me a way to learn about the world and what could be done in the world.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So you went to Oak Hill High School, I understand, which is in Grant County, before enrolling at Ball State. And you were the first in your family to go to college. Is that right?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
That's correct. Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Tell me about what inspired you—I think you mentioned it, but expand on it, if you would—about why you chose to go to college and maybe more specifically, why you chose to come here to Ball State.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, my mother always taught me that I could do anything I set my mind to, and I wanted to be part of the big world. So I knew for me education was the key to that. And I also knew that in order to get that education I needed scholarships. So I was very driven to get good grades. And Ball State offered a presidential scholarship, which took care of most of the cost of college, as well as work study opportunities. And along with that, and some community scholarships, my college here was mostly paid for.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And what did you study when you were here?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I started Ball State with an eye toward becoming a therapist. So I started with a clinical psychology major. Ended up adding electives in criminal justice. And that's where I started to get interested in the law and ended up with minors in German and humanities as well.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So you were pretty .... studying a wide range of topics?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Okay. What else do you recall about your experience at Ball State beyond those academic courses?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, I had the opportunity to do a summer program before starting Ball State. So between my junior and senior year of high school—
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Was that on campus?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
On campus, yes. And I remember taking the campus tour, and our guide stopped us at the Beneficence statue and told the story of the Ball family and how this university came to be. And that statue, that story, resonated with me because my mother always taught us to give back and serve in our community. And so this campus to me, felt like home.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So and that was while you were visiting or preparing to come to Ball State?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
That's correct.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Did you feel that ... I refer to it and we'll talk about it a little later... that culture of the institution while you were here? Did you feel that culture of beneficence?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I very much did. Ball State offers a menu of volunteer opportunities through Student Voluntary Services. And so I picked up that menu, and I looked down the list to see what I had not experienced before. And I chose volunteer opportunities to broaden my horizons. So I worked in group homes for developmentally disabled folks. I worked with offenders and Volunteers of America federal prison system, just a variety of opportunities to get to know people that I had never interacted with before.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And how did that that experience of meeting people, as you say, that you hadn't met before—how did that shape what you were interested to do professionally and the work that you're doing today?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I am really interested always—was very interested—in making the world a better place for people. And so figuring out how I could best do that, figuring out who were those populations that I felt most passionate about working with. And I had the opportunity as one of my work study jobs to work at United Day Care Center, and that was a daycare center licensed for about 120 children.
And many of those children were involved in the legal system for some reason. So either divorce situations or child welfare situations. And I was a receptionist there, but I ended up having a knack for calming down children when they were having a hard time. So that's where I learned that I, I had this knack for working with children who needed a little extra.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And what did you think? What ... what is that knack? suspect that there's some folks who are listening who would like you to let them in on that secret.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I don't know if there's a secret. My personality is that I'm just a very calm and quiet person. I have a niece named Sophia. And when she was little, her mom is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and she's a very exuberant personality. And Sophia would just follow me around and look at me like I was so strange.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Because you were quiet—
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Because I was quiet. And I think children respond to that. So if children are very upset and angry, I calm them down that way.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Right. Children often react to the adults that they see in their lives.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
They do.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So you also were in the Honors College I understand. Tell me a little bit about that part of your academic experience.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yeah, I love the Honors College. I lived in Wilson Schmidt, so with other students who were interested in studying as much as I was. I had a roommate there that has become a lifelong friend. I played the roommate lottery and got a great one—
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And you won .... who was your roommate?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Jennifer Parrish at that time. Now Jennifer Walker. So we're still friends to this day.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
She might be listening too—
[DANA KENWORTHY]
She might be listening.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
I'm sorry. And you were going to say something else?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes. Jenny and I actually got to travel together, off campus, and we went to the Vienna Center together. So we lived in Vienna, Austria, for a semester together in the same host family. We actually shared a bedroom, in in this host family. So we got to be very tight.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
What do you remember about that experience? Coming from a very small town in Indiana to Austria?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
It was really, really awesome for me to be able to travel the world. And I was studying psychology, so I'm going to the birthplace of Sigmund Freud. One of our professors there was a student of Anna Freud. I’d just read in one of my humanities classes, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. He lived there in Vienna, and my university professor there gave me his address. So I was able to correspond with him there, visit Dachau concentration camp where he was placed. And so the world just kept growing in that experience.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Do you have recollections about any particular faculty or staff members here at Ball State that kind of shaped your aspirations and shaped your career?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Humanities courses. To this day, I think back to those humanities courses about how people relate to one another in society. And Professor Jennings taught two of those back to back semesters of humanities. And he gave us an assignment as we were discussing faith and religion and how that can be very divisive in our in our society. So he challenged all of us to meet someone from a different faith, a different way of life, and visit their church or their meeting or whatever that was. And so we did that. And I think today, how effective and how much that could change the way our world is divided today.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And what did those different perspectives teach you about making judgments about other people? You're in the judgment business, which we'll talk about later.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes, yes. And I've heard the saying, just because you're a judge doesn't mean you have to be judgmental.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
[chuckles] Probably a good reminder. I'm glad you said that. Not me.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
There's a lot to that. At the end of the day, people are different. And we should celebrate those differences because we have commonality more than anything else. And through those experiences, we learn the commonalities between us. And so I think that's very valuable to remember.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So after you graduated from Ball State in 1998, I understand you had a double major, as you said, counseling psychology and criminal justice. And then you began working at the prosecutor's office. What do you remember about the early days of your career?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, I got that job because I interned as part of my education at Ball State at the prosecutor's office. And then they offered me a position out of that.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Was this before you went to law school or after law?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Before. So I worked as a paralegal at the prosecutor's office. Also did victim assistance, did community education and victim assistance programing through Sex Event Services, Family Service Society, and Marion Police Department. So through all of those positions, I was exposed to people involved in the legal system, particularly victims of crime. And that's where I decided I wanted to go to law school, because I really wanted to help them inside the courtroom.
I'd been helping them outside the courtroom, but I wanted to help them tell their story inside the courtroom.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And so you chose to go to IU Law School in Indianapolis.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I did.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Okay. And at that time, were you still working in Grant County? Were you dividing your time or were you a full-time law student?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I started law school working still full time in Grant County, but the timing didn't work. So my position here didn't allow for the commute. So I was commuting that three hour trip daily to law school. So I got a job with Harrison and Moberly, a law firm downtown, doing paralegal work there. So I'd get up at six in the morning and drive to work at Harrison and Moberly, stay there till the afternoon, go to the campus and spend some time studying or sometimes napping on one of the giant sofas in the library.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Not the most comfortable place to sleep outside?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Not exactly. But you did what you had to do. And then, classes were 6 to 9 p.m. and then I drove home, and then I did it again the next day.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Those are long days. And so as a night law student, did that take you 3 or 4 years to complete?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I started nights with the intention of finishing that program in four years. I did not like that commute, so I ended up speeding that up and finishing in three years.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So you're pretty—you're pretty good at time management.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I do my best.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So after you graduated from IU Law School, you served for almost a decade in Grant County as a deputy prosecutor. Tell us about that career choice to go in to be a prosecutor. And what were the particular challenges and rewards of that work?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, this provided me the opportunity to do what I wanted to do, and that was help victims of crime in the courtroom. And so I focus on special victims cases, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, neglect.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
People are familiar with that show Special Victims. But why don't you help us understand, in your in real life practice, what is a special victim's case?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
These are generally cases involving something extremely traumatic. So someone has been through something unthinkable, unspeakable. And, as a prosecutor, you have to figure out how to make it speakable for the victim. They need to go into court and tell their story, and that's very difficult. So a lot of that process was building rapport, building trust, not making promises because you couldn't make promises with outcomes, but promising, that you would always do your best so you would stand shoulder to shoulder with them, do your very best inside the courtroom.
And also letting them know that you very much respected their courage, and their willingness to go into court and seek justice.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
What did you learn in that experience? It's a very challenging environment to deal with, a victim of a very serious, as you say, traumatic crime. But who almost certainly has great anxiety about describing that event in front of a large group of strangers.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yeah. It was, it was a process. You could not walk in cold. But with someone who had never set foot in the courtroom before, and so I spent a lot of time just meeting with them, getting to know them as a person, figuring out how best to help them through their story. Being very flexible inside the courtroom. So if someone froze, particularly a child. Looping. Looping back to something more comfortable and then coming back to the uncomfortable thing. So, sometimes it was—it was holding hands with the victim. Sometimes it was skipping up and down the hall to get some of that energy out before they took the stand. So really, watching them and taking your cues from them.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So you did that work for ten years. How did you deal with the emotional burden or stress that doing that work would have on you? I've, as you know, I was a prosecutor. I didn't do that kind of work. What—how did you manage your own stress or the challenges personally? Not just professionally.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, family support is a big deal. My mother was very, very supportive. My husband—I was a newlywed during law school—so he's obviously tremendously supportive of everything I do. And so having understanding people in your life is very helpful there. And also, these are sad things. And so sometimes you just let yourself be sad. Sometimes I would get in the car and shed some tears because of something a child went through. But that was part of it.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So at the same time as you were working as a prosecutor, you were also serving your friends and neighbors there in Grant County. Talk about the ways in which you were engaged with the community. What kind of community service were you working on at that time?
[DANA KENWORTHY
I served on a lot of boards and committees, so I served on our CASA board, Family Service Society board, Mayor's Commission Against Domestic Violence, Senior Center. I also was a guardian ad litem for children going through divorce. I represented the children. I also was a course instructor for Finding Words, which was teaching frontline staff, police, case managers for Department of Child Services, prosecutors how to interview children in a non-leading way, and then also served as Grant County Bar president and directed our pro-bono program in Grant County.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
One of the things you mentioned was the CASA program. Some of our listeners may not be familiar with that program. Can you tell us what that's about?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Sure. That's court appointed special advocates. Those are advocates, typically volunteers, who represent children going through child welfare cases. They represent their best interest.
[GEOFF MEARNS
And so you had your professional responsibilities, and this was then actually just volunteer service on top of those responsibilities.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Why did you make that choice to fill up your life with so much of that work, both professionally and personally?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I felt like that was my purpose. This is what I'm good at. This is what I have a knack for. And it's incredibly fulfilling to see someone walk out of the courtroom, having told their story and feeling empowered, feeling better for it.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Did you ever have a time when your family would say, we need you to spend more time with us? You know, your husband, your mother, your siblings?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
My mother has always been so proud of everything I do. And she's been supportive of everything I do. So she volunteered when I was [District Six] event services director. She volunteered for that program. So she's walked with me in a lot of this. And my husband was a police officer for most of this time. He retired after 21 years or so on the force. And so he understood. He's always also been dedicated to children's issues. He's coached. He worked at White's Residential Family Services before he was a police officer. So, we've walked a similar path together.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So, I'm going to ask you now to maybe brag on yourself a little bit. So I know that probably doesn't come naturally [DANA LAUGHS] but that helped me out here. I understand that, during your service as a prosecutor, you received several important awards. If you would, share with us what those awards were and more importantly, what did that mean to you?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
So as I was a prosecutor, there were three and a half years when I only prosecuted domestic violence cases. And during that time I noticed that there were no legal services available for indigent folks who are looking to get protective orders, divorces, child custody, fight evictions, that sort of thing. And so a lot of the victims that I was working with in the criminal side didn't have access to legal counsel on the civil side.
So that's when I got involved with district six, Access to Justice, serving on their board, and started in Grant County a mediation program and a pro bono referral program. So establish some legal services for those victims of crime, as well as others in our community that needed that legal access in the civil system.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
What did that kind of external recognition mean to you? Was it a validation? Or was the work itself more of a validation or more fulfilling to you?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, I would say it was nice to be recognized. But I felt like I was being recognized for something that, that I needed to do anyway. So, my mother always said: If you see something wrong, then fix it. So, I felt like that's what I was doing. I was organizing and mobilizing community resources that were already there. Volunteers were doing the hard work. I was just putting the pieces together. But the name of the award was the Randall Shepard Award. And I very much respect Chief Justice Shepard. And so that meant a lot, that his name was on it.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. For folks who are listening, it's a very significant recognition. So congratulations.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Thank you.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So in 2010, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed you as a judge pro tem of the Grant Superior Court. Tell us a little bit about what that role and responsibility entails. And tell us a little bit of why you accepted that responsibility, that position.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
So in 2010, Judge Johnson left the bench due to illness. And so there were two years plus remaining of his term. And in that circumstance, the Indiana Supreme Court appoints someone to fulfill that term. So I was asked if I would be interested in that. And I would mention that I was asked to run for judge in a different court a couple of years before that, and declined at that point because I didn't feel the timing was right.
And that ... a couple of years earlier, I walked into my office and, that morning, flipped open a new file, and there were these photographs of this little, frail child, with bruises all over her body. And she was a special needs little girl. Had been abused by her mother. And I decided then the timing wasn't right because I wasn't going to leave her.
So I stayed for her. And then that's significant because Judge Johnson, while I was handling the criminal side, Judge Johnson was handling the child welfare side with the same little girl. And by the time I decided to take this position in Grant Superior Court Two that little girl's mother's rights had been terminated and she was a legal orphan now, in this Grant Superior Court Two case. So that to me, was also a pivotal decision point. And I ended up being with that little girl in Superior Court Two until she was adopted and found her forever family. So that little girl changed my path. She doesn't know it, but she changed my path.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. And do you know where she is today?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
I know where she landed. I know where she landed in a very safe home, yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So after you became judge, you presided over probably hundreds of bench trials and jury trials. And you established the Grant County Family Recovery Court. Tell us what that court does and how it's become really a model for judicial reform.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Sure. So, part of the docket in Grant Superior Court Two was felony criminal cases, civil cases. But the docket, in which family recovery court became a model, was the child welfare docket. So I was sitting over felony cases and seeing people who qualified for specialized treatment in our adult drug court, and then I would see folks with no criminal charges in a child welfare case who needed that special treatment but didn't qualify because they didn't have a criminal felony. And that struck me as just fundamentally unfair. I also noticed in the child welfare side of things that we had the same parents coming back, having given birth to the next substance exposed infant. And I felt like we were really failing. If we could do better with the first one, if we could intervene better in that first time, we wouldn't have 4 or 5, you know, babies born substance exposed.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
In those interventions were not necessarily criminal sanctions. They also may have been support systems for those parents.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
That's correct. So Indiana's Constitution indicates that our penal system is not built on, vindictive justice, but rather reformation. So these are treatment courts. These are trying to get at the issues why people commit crimes and why people are in these circumstances and directing services to fix that. And what we found through these treatment courts is that recidivism goes down. Outcomes are much better. We can keep children home and avoid the trauma of removing them from their families. And it's a team: So it's all of the system partners sitting around a table every week together, talking about how do we best address things. It's asking the families what they need. So they are part of that team and part of that process. And it's effective because of that communication.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And those kinds of courts are very labor and time intensive. But as you mentioned, if they're effective, they prevent somebody from coming back through the system or further harm to the child or to another child.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
That's exactly right. And, uh, we observed as well that recovery is very much a grassroots effort. So we saw the folks that we worked with creating ripples in their communities. So they were leading others in the community to recovery.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So instead of a negative ripple effect or adverse consequences, you create a virtuous cycle—
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Absolutely.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So in 2022, then Governor Holcomb appointed you to the Indiana Court of Appeals. When that opportunity came your way, were you reluctant to give up the work—that kind of more hands on, impactful work at the trial level—to go to a more academic level, so to speak, in the Court of Appeals?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes, I, I loved being a prosecutor. I loved being a trial judge. And I viewed this as an opportunity to perhaps make higher level, effective change at the state level, as well as having time to think and dig into that intellectual challenge that the law is. So that was attractive to me as well.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Now, as a trial court judge, you act alone.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
In the Court of Appeals, you have to work in concert with two other of your judicial peers. Has that been something that's gratifying, or is that something that's frustrating? Or maybe both?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes, I would say yes. [laughs] It is a lot of fun to work with my colleagues. There are 15 of us, and we rotate panels of three every four months. So in two years, I’ve worked with all of my colleagues at this point. And we'll start again and do it over.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And in that process, never having been a judge, but known many of them, you learn from each other as you're discussing and deliberating in private about the outcome of a case.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
We do. We are different people. We have different opinions, strong opinions. And that debate is fun. The debate is challenging and frustrating at times. But at the end of the day, the written product is better for it.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So since you've been on the Court of Appeals, you've also been involved in a program that the court operates called Appeals on Wheels. As part of that program, you were just on our campus in February, just last month, presiding over oral arguments as the court travels around its judicial district. Tell us more about that program.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Sure. Our Appeals on Wheels program started officially in 2001. Although there was some traveling oral arguments before that. And as part of our civics education outreach, we want to let people know what we do, show them in their own communities what we do. It's an opportunity to get students interested in the law—perhaps high school students, college students. We've been to community centers, nursing homes, all over the state, all 92 counties. We do about, maximum of 40 cases a year on the road. So we do a lot of these.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And how many have you done in terms of as a judge?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
My first and second years, I did 21 each. So, you know, about every couple of weeks or so, although we don't do them in the summer.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Do you volunteer? Did certain judges volunteer?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Yes, we volunteer. And so I love this part of the work. And so I stick my hand up as quickly as I can.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So what was it like, for you a few weeks ago to come back to Ball State, a campus you came to as the first in your family to go to college. And now I believe you were in Emens Auditorium, serving as a Court of Appeals judge in the state of Indiana. What was that experience like for you?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Full circle, I suppose. So, when I came here, I was so excited and energetic and ready to set the world on fire. And coming back here and having lunch with the legal studies students, I saw that same energy around the table, and it was energizing to me. And made me reminisce a lot about Ball State here, having been here recently.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Did you see in any of those students a future judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
You've got some great students here. And one young lady has already reached out, and I'm going to meet with her one on one in a couple of weeks. So she's going to come to Indianapolis and we'll show her the state house and maybe plant that seed.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. Well we do appreciate you joining us for that and bringing that experience to our campus. So we've talked— spent a lot of time talking about your professional life. But before I ask you a few questions about a personal nature, I wanted to mention that when you were appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2022, that was the first female majority in the history of the court.
So March–we're recording this in March—it's Women's History Month. So tell us what that milestone, what significance it had for you.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
So the listeners may be interested to know that since Indiana became a state in 1816, only 15 women have ever served on our appellate courts—two on the Indiana Supreme Court, one on our tax court, and 12 on our Court of Appeals. And we are all still alive, so that tells you how recently this has developed.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Every woman who has been appointed to the Indiana Court of Appeals is still living.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
We are still living. Yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Wow. So I'm sorry I interrupted you with that follow-up.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
No. Our first trial judge was elected in in 1965. So that was Sue Shields, to the trial bench. And I was interested to learn recently that the last state, Montana, had its first woman on the bench in 1980. 1980. So this is very recent. Our Chief Justice Loretta Rush often says, “To be the robe, you have to see the robe.” And I know that was true for me because I watched her and I followed her example. And so I hope that, for me, I can be that example for someone else. And more than that, I think back to being that little girl who was reading those books about women trailblazers in the elementary school library, and now I get to work with them, and that's just really cool.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. Well, and for those who are listening, the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court is Chief Justice Rush, a woman. So remarkable progress in a relatively now short period of time. So you've also spoken during this conversation about your commitment to children in your work. But I also understand that commitment extends to your own home with you and your husband, that you've served as foster parents to children of all ages. Why did you take on that responsibility? And what has that experience meant to you and your husband?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Well, as I said, he and I have walked the same path, and that is helping kids where we can help them. And we had the space, we had the time, and we had the love to give. And so we decided to foster. And each of those 15 kiddos were blessings to us. We loved them the best we could while we had them and did our best to build resiliency in them while we had them. So when they went home or on to the next thing that they were in a better position than they were when they came to us.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So I'm now going to turn to one final question, if I may. And it's a question that I ask all of the guests on my podcast. You are certainly a role model and this question will be right down the center of the plate for you. You know, as we walked over here this afternoon on a beautiful early spring day, we walked by the beautiful statue of Beneficence, which you mentioned earlier. That spirit of beneficence you experienced as a prospective student, as a student, and now as a professional. So I'm going to end with, as I said, with the question that I ask all my guests. Beneficence stands for the quality of doing good for other people through service and philanthropy. So as you reflect on your career and your life, what does beneficence mean to you, Judge?
[DANA KENWORTHY]
For me, it's following my mother's model. It's always remembering humanity and respecting humanity. For me, it's proactive kindness. It's not just being a good person. It's about sharing that with other people. Like my mother always said, if you don't like the way of the world, it's time to fix it. So do something. And, at the end of the day, it's about how every day I can best serve other people.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Well, Judge, thank you so much. As I say, you are a role model and an inspiration for all of us. And I greatly appreciate you spending some time with me this afternoon.
[DANA KENWORTHY]
Thank you for having me.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Thank you.