Northern District of Indiana - About Us
The first United States Attorney to serve while Indiana was still a territory was Elijah Sparks in 1813. His successor, William Hendricks, witnessed Indiana's admission to the Union as the 19th state in 1816. On April 21, 1928 the federal district for the State of Indiana was divided into the Northern and Southern Judicial Districts, resulting in the creation of the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana. The Northern District of Indiana consists of the northern 32 counties of the State of Indiana. The district has three staffed offices in Hammond, South Bend and Fort Wayne. By contrast, the State of Indiana has 92 prosecuting attorneys located in each county seat.
The Hammond Division covers Lake and Porter Counties. The South Bend Division covers Cass, Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall, Miami, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, and Wabash Counties. The Fort Wayne Division covers Adams, Allen, Blackford, Dekalb, Grant, Huntington, Jay, Lagrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells, and Whitley Counties. The Northern District of Indiana also includes the Hammond Division at Lafayette covers Benton, Carroll, Jasper, Newton, Tippecanoe, Warren, and White Counties Joseph S. Van Bokkelen was sworn in as the 17th United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana on September 21, 2001.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana has an authorized strength of 77 employees, including 38 Assistant United States Attorneys.