AUSA Doris Pryor selected as United States Magistrate Judge

PRESS RELEASE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
Laura A. Briggs, Clerk
46 East Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (November 17, 2017): The Honorable Jane E. Magnus-Stinson, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, is pleased to announce the selection of attorney Doris L. Pryor as United States Magistrate Judge. Ms. Pryor’s appointment will be made upon completion of a Federal Bureau of Investigation background check, a process that can take several months. Once appointed, she will fill the vacancy created by the untimely death of Magistrate Judge Denise K. LaRue, who passed away on August 2, 2017.

Ms. Pryor is presently employed as the National Security Chief for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana and has served in that role since September 2014. From August 2006 until her appointment as National Security Chief, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. From August 2005 through August 2006, Ms. Pryor served as a Deputy Public Defender in the State of Arkansas Public Defender’s Commission. She also has served two terms as a law clerk, for Judge J. Leon Holmes in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (August 2004-August 2005), and for Chief Judge Lavenski Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (August 2003-August 2004).

Chief Judge Stinson said, “The court eagerly anticipates welcoming Ms. Pryor to the bench. She has demonstrated ability to handle complex cases in her varying assignments as an Assistant United States Attorney. She has also demonstrated her commitment to the principle of equal justice under law during her laudable career with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and, before that, as a deputy public defender. My fellow judges and I know that Ms. Pryor will serve the litigants who appear before her in court with the same fairness and equanimity for which she is already renowned.”

The duties of Magistrate Judges in the Southern District of Indiana are demanding and wide-ranging. Ms. Pryor will conduct various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings in civil cases on delegation from a district judge, and preside over trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. After a period of recusal, she will also conduct preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, and preside over trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases. Ms. Pryor will primarily serve in the Indianapolis Division of the Southern District and travel to the other divisional offices of the Court to hold proceedings and conduct settlement conferences.

Ms. Pryor was born in Hope, Arkansas, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1999 from the University of Central Arkansas, where she majored in political science. She obtained her law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2003 and was admitted to the bar the same year. Ms. Pryor has since been admitted to practice in numerous state and federal courts, including Indiana. Ms. Pryor is active in Indiana’s legal community. She is currently serving as the program chair for the Indianapolis branch of the Federal Bar Association and has previously served as the secretary and newsletter chair of that organization. Ms. Pryor is active in a number of other bar associations and chaired the Indianapolis Bar Association Diversity Job Fair’s Student Workshop in 2016 and 2017. Ms. Pryor was also instrumental in the development and growth of the Southern District of Indiana’s Re-entry And Community Help (REACH) federal re-entry courts, which give formerly incarcerated individuals access to resources, law enforcement officials, community leaders, and other experts to help the returning citizens transition successfully back into the community.

Ms. Pryor also serves her community as a board member of Goodwill Education Initiatives, Inc., and as the Young Adult Ministry Co-Director for the Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. She is also passionate about the Just the Beginning Foundation, which is committed to developing and nurturing interest in the law among young persons from various socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds underrepresented in the legal profession.

Ms. Pryor lives in Carmel with her husband and son.

Magistrate Judges are appointed by the Judges of the United States District Courts for terms of eight years, and are eligible for reappointment to successive terms.