Mark Rutherford (politician)

Mark Rutherford (born December 12, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. He has served as the chair of the Indiana Public Defenders Commission since 2008. Currently, he is the 2018 Libertarian Party candidate for Secretary of State of Indiana.

Rutherford is admitted to practice in Indiana; U.S. District Courts, Northern and Southern District of Indiana; U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. He practices in business law and litigation; criminal law for business, their owners, and their families; election law; mediation.

In 2007, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Rutherford to the Indiana Public Defenders Commission. The board elected Rutherford chair in 2008, where he still serves.

Early life and education

Mark Rutherford was born December 12, 1959, in Floyd Memorial Hospital in New Albany, Indiana, to parents Laura (nee Wright) and John Rutherford. Both of his parents grew up in southern Indiana - his mother in Washington County between Salem and Livonia; his father, in Orange County in an area known as Stampers Creek east of Paoli and west of Pumpkin Center. The family still owns farmland in that area. John worked as a newspaper copy editor, and Laura was a sixth-grade teacher. Mark Rutherford moved to Columbus as a young child, where he lived until 1972 when the family moved to Carmel, Indiana.

Rutherford attended Carmel High School and graduated in 1978.

Rutherford graduated from Wabash College in 1982, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Social Fraternity and was a cheerleader.

Rutherford attended Valparaiso University School of Law graduating in 1986 with a Juris Doctor degree. He was president of the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity 1985-1986.
Legal career

Rutherford currently practices for Thrasher Buschmann & Voelkel, P.C. (Thrasher Buschmann Griffith & Voelkel February 2006-April 2010) in Indianapolis. He began as attorney of counsel February 2006-December 2006, then became attorney-shareholder January 2007. He has also practiced with Laudig George Rutherford & Sipes (April 1994-Janurary 2006), Mark W. Rutherford, Attorney at Law (September 1993-March 1994), and was an associate attorney with Bamberger & Feibleman in Indianapolis from 1989-1993.

Rutherford served as a public defender for Marion County Superior Criminal Court V (1990) and in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office (October 1986-September 1989) as a deputy prosecutor. He belongs to the Indiana State Bar Association and to the Indianapolis Bar Association, serving on the Litigation Section on the Executive Committee from 1998-2004, as secretary/treasurer from 1999-2000, chair-elect in 2000-2001, and chair 2001-2002.

He served with the American Bar Association’s site inspection teams of Ave Marie School of Law (2008) and Northern Illinois University College of Law (2010) as lawyer representative. He was the Indiana State Bar Association representative to the American Bar Association’s Working Group on Legal Opinions from 2011-2015. He had served on the American Inn of Court, Indianapolis Inn, 1993-1996 and 1997-2000.
Government appointments

Indiana Public Defenders Commission: Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Rutherford in 2007 to the Indiana Public Defenders Commission as the Republican governor’s non-Republican nominee

Marion County Courts: Rutherford served as pro tempore judge for various Marion County Municipal and Superior Courts from 1991 through 2000. He served as a public defender in Marion County Superior Court V in 1990, and had worked in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office as a deputy prosecutor from 1986 through 1989.

Libertarian Party of Indiana: Rutherford was chair for the Libertarian Party of Indiana from 2000-2007. He was on the Fund-Raising Committee for the Libertarian Party of Indiana in 1999.

Libertarian National Committee: He has served in roles for the Libertarian National Committee since 2001. He was a member of the National Committee from 2001-2006 and 2010-2012, serving as vice chair in 2010-2012.
Indiana Public Defender Commission
As Chair of the Indiana Public Defender Commission, Rutherford has worked to make changes in Indiana's public defense system. After a study in October 2016 that found that Indiana isn’t meeting its "constitutional obligation" to provide effective representation, Rutherford and the commission are looking to create a statewide office that will help coordinate representation during the appeals process for those who can’t afford an attorney.

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