Matthew P. Brookman Sworn in as United States District Judge

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – The Honorable Tanya Walton Pratt, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that Matthew P. Brookman was sworn in as a District Judge this morning. Senior District Judge Richard L. Young, whose seat Judge Brookman fills, administered the oath at the Winfield K. Denton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Evansville, Indiana.

Judge Brookman was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden on January 3, 2023, and confirmed by the Senate on March 29, 2023. Prior to this appointment, Judge Brookman had served as United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Indiana since February 1, 2016. Chief Justice John G. Roberts appointed Judge Brookman to serve on the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States in 2022.

Upon taking the oath, Judge Brookman stated, “I am grateful to have been nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as a District Court Judge for the Southern District of Indiana, and I am excited to begin the important work of the United States District Court.”

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Brookman was employed by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, where he served as the Chief of the Office’s Drug and Violent Crime Unit and Lead Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Attorney. He was also a member of the United States Attorney’s Executive Committee, Capital Case Coordinator for the Southern District of Indiana, and served as a Chair and a Member from 2011 until 2015 of the United States Attorney’s various Hiring Committees. In 2010, Judge Brookman received the Director’s Award from United States Attorney General Eric Holder, in Washington, DC, for superior performance as an Assistant United States Attorney, for his work on the United States v. Jarvis Brown, et al. quadruple homicide prosecution.

After spending the early part of his career in private practice and with the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Jefferson County, Missouri, Judge Brookman joined the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri in 1999.

Judge Brookman then moved to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana in 2002. Judge Brookman was born in St. Louis, Missouri and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990 from DePauw University, where he majored in economics and history. He obtained his law degree from the Washington University School of Law in May 1993.

Judge Brookman will maintain his primary chambers in Evansville and travel regularly to Indianapolis for hearings and trials.