Sharpe becomes Southern District clerk after swearing-in ceremony

The new clerk has officially taken office in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Roger A.G. Sharpe was sworn in last week, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of former longtime clerk Laura Briggs.

Chief Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson announced that Sharpe was sworn in via video conferencing on Friday, becoming clerk effective Monday. Sharpe’s appointment comes after Briggs announced in October her retirement from a tenure of more than 20 years as clerk.

Sharpe will report directly to Magnus-Stinson and the other judges of the Southern District. The clerk leads an office of roughly 75 employees who provide a wide variety of services to members of the court community and the public.

Sharpe’s responsibilities will encompass a multitude of legal and administrative duties, from managing the Southern District Court’s budget, information technology, and space and facilities, to overseeing the staff responsible for docketing and processing civil and criminal cases, jury services, and courtroom operations.

“I am happy to work for a court full of talented and dedicated public servants,” Sharpe said during the swearing in ceremony. “But just as important, I am happy to work for a court where people treat each other with kindness and respect, even though the nature of our work is often quite stressful. I’m looking forward to many years of working with all of you to further the court’s mission, a mission about which I care deeply. And I fully expect that we will also find time to enjoy the journey together.”

Sharpe joined the Southern District Court in September 2013 and has held positions as attorney to the clerk, staff attorney, and law clerk to Magnus-Stinson. Most recently, he served as the Southern District’s death penalty law clerk.

Prior to coming to the Southern District, Sharpe served as a law clerk for a year to Judge Sidney Fitzwater of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, followed by a year-long clerkship with Judge Jerome Holmes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Oklahoma City.

Sharpe hails from Springfield, Illinois, and is a graduate of Rice University. He also received his juris doctorate, with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School. Sharpe and his family live in Indianapolis.

Read more about Sharpe and former clerk Laura Briggs in the May 13 edition of the Indiana Lawyer.